So, Where Are We Now?

Last week in the Northwest Conference, there were five games in which teams of the same classification went head-to-head.  Three of those were between teams who were no more than one game apart in the standings.

In Burlington on Monday, Lakewood, with a 6-3 NWC record, was at Burlington, who was 6-2.  The offenses were not up to the challenges that their respective defenses offered.  The Cougars got a 54-43 win, despite being held to their third lowest point total of the season.  The Tigers’ total of 43 was their lowest offensive output of the season. 

The only player who was really on his offensive game was Lakewood’s senior forward, Caleb Greenland, who finished with 27 points, exactly half of the Cougars’ total.  In the second quarter, Greenland accounted for exactly 100-percent of his team’s scoring, with nine points.

Tigers 6-6 senior forward, Logan Heigert, was held to seven points, 20 below his season average, by the quick Cougars zone defense.  Senior guard Madden Whitlock knocked down three 3-point shots for the Tigers and finished with 15 points. 

The Tigers responded with an 80-67 win over Meridian on Thursday, and a 75-58 win at Ferndale on Saturday to finish the week with a conference record of 8-3.  More on that game coming up. 

The Cougars hosted the Trojans Saturday night and earned a 75-59 win.  The Cougars also finished the week at 8-3. 

On Wednesday, Nooksack Valley won at Mount Baker 73-54.  Entering the game, the Pioneers and Mountaineers were tied with 1-8 NWC marks, but more importantly than those numbers, is where each team is in the great scope of 1A challenges.

The Pioneers ended the week with a home loss to undefeated Lynden Chrsitian, leaving them with a 2-9 record.  That was the last head-to-head game of the regular season for the 1A group.  The Mountaineers lost at Oak Harbor, 74-46, on Friday.  They are 1-10, while the Borderites are tied with the Pioneers at 2-9.

All five advance to the 1A district tournament, seeded by conference standings.  Meridian has beaten Nooksack, Mount Baker and Blaine.  Nooksack Valley owns tiebreakers over Mount Baker and Blaine, while the Borderites have a win over Mount Baker.

Those four teams only have 2A and 3A teams on their remaining schedules.

Oak Harbor and Ferndale met on Wednesday, with the Golden Eagles leading the Wildcats by one-half game in the NWC standings.   Ferndale overcame a seven-point deficit in the third quarter, and a very tight fourth quarter, to escape with a 58-57 win.

The Golden Eagles took a 57-52 lead with 27 seconds left on two free throws by senior guard, Kaveer Dhillon. 

On their next possession, Wildcats senior guard Xavier Ochoa hit nothing but net on a shot from the left corner with 18 seconds to go.  Ochoa was double-teamed and had to do a double clutch on the shot.  The shot was a 2-pointer and left the Wildcats down by three points.

Sophomore guard Houston Wills hit one of two free throws to give the Golden Eagles a 58-54 lead with twelve seconds left. 

With the Golden Eagles still leading by four points, Wildcats senior guard Byrson Harris scored and was fouled with six seconds left.  He completed the 3-point play to cut the Golden Eagles lead to one.

Dhillon was then fouled with 4.7 seconds left, but he missed both free throws.  With the ball in play after the miss, Ochoa got off a shot from just inside the half court line, but the shot came up short.

Ferndale’s loss to Burlington on Saturday leaves the Golden Eagles with a 4-7 record, tied with Mount Vernon and Oak Harbor.  Only two of those three will qualify for the 3A district tournament. 

Ferndale has beaten the Bulldogs and the Wildcats, while the Wildcats have split the two games and Mount Vernon has lost to both Oak Harbor and Ferndale.  There are no more head-to-head matchups, so the final four games are critical to all three teams.

Sehome forged a tie with three other teams that have 8-3 records by beating Mount Vernon at home on Thursday, 67-59. 

The first half was played tight, as the Mariners zone defense was able to limit low post touches by Bulldogs leading scorer, 6-5 senior Taran Hanjrah, who scored only three points in the first half.  The Mariners closed the half with a 6-0 run to take a 34-25 lead. 

The Bulldogs were able to ger Hanjrah more involved in the second half, but they had no answer for Mariner’s senior forward, Xavier Kelley.  Kelley, who moves without the ball fluently to openings in zone defenses, scored 13 of the Mariners 15 third-quarter points, as the Mariners lead expanded to 49-36 after three quarters.

The Bulldogs were able to fight back and cut the lead to 57-51 with 3:45 left.  The Bulldogs benefitted from a five-point offensive trip.  They split two free throws, twice, getting the offensive rebound both times, then junior forward Reece Roberts nailed a 3-pointer.  That was as close as the Bulldogs could get. 

Kelley’s night ended with 27 points, while Hanjrah ended up leading the Bulldogs with 14.

The three-way tie among the 3A teams comes down to this:

Mount Vernon plays Burlington, Meridian, Blaine, and Mount Baker.  Ferndale plays Meridian, Blaine, Mount Baker, and Lynden Christian.  Oak Harbor plays Lynden Christian, Anacortes, Nooksack Valley, and Squalicum.

Burlington-Edison’s 75-58 win over Ferndale on Saturday did not start out promising for the Tigers.

The Golden Eagles rode the shooting arm of 6-5 senior forward Mantaj Singh to a 36-33 lead at halftime.  Singh moved through the Tigers defenses for several short bank shots and one 3-pointer, scoring 16 points in the first half. 

Tigers 6-6 senior forward Logan Heigert kept his team close by netting 21 points by halftime.  He scored 14 of those points in the second quarter.

The second half was much different, as Heigert increased his scoring pace, eventually outscoring the Golden Eagles 24-22 over the final two quarters.  With Ferndale leading 41-33 early in the third quarter, the Tigers flipped the game with a 20-2 run.

With about two minutes left in the contest, Heigert scored on a 10-footer in the lane, which brought a little extra cheer from the Tigers bench.  At that point, Heigert reached 45 points on the night, which happens to be a new single-game scoring record at Burlington.

My apologies for not finding out who had the previous record of 44, but once I do, it will be noted here.

Senior forward Paxton Booth added a dozen for the Tigers.  Singh finished with 21 for Ferndale with sophomore guard Houston Wills getting 18.

So, where are we now?

Everyone has played 11 games and has four remaining.  While there are no head-to-head games involving 1A or 3A teams, there are some blockbusters coming up for both classification positioning and final places in the league standings.  As of this paragraph, after Lynden Christian, there are six teams bunched together within one game of each other. 

The undefeated Lyncs will play a big role in the final standings as they have games against Oak Harbor, Lynden, Lakewood, and Ferndale.

Even with all this, there are five “rivalry” games this week, one each day beginning on Tuesday with Squalicum at Bellingham.  Wednesday is Burlington at Mount Vernon.  Thursday, we have Bellingham at Sehome followed by Burlington at Sedro-Woolley on Friday.  It culminates on Saturday at 2:30pm with Lynden at Lynden Christian.

~ Ted House