Tigers Top Saturday NWC Action

It was a busy first Saturday of the Northwest Conference season.  I saw a lot of what I expected, and some of what I didn’t expect.

The eye-popper was Burlington-Edison.  They showed why they will be a contender in the NWC and beyond, as they had no trouble with North Kitsap in their 72-27 victory. 

After winning the state 2A championship in 2020, the Vikings slipped to 7-14 last season, and judging them in warmups, they appeared to be athletic enough to make this a competitive game.  But the Tigers dispelled that thought in the first 2:01 of the game by taking a 9-0 lead and never looked back.  

The Vikings had no answer for the Tigers at either end of the floor.  The Tigers rolled to leads of 16-0 and 34-2 in the first quarter.  Senior Logan Heigert scored 18 of his game-high 30 points in the first quarter, hitting eight shots in eight minutes. 

The Tigers were on-point offensively and stifling on defense.  Their exterior pressure forced the Vikings into a number of turnovers that turned into easy scores.

The only bump in the road for the Tigers was “maybe” a few too many fouls in the first half.  Which is something you expect to see on day one as the feet get in tune to offensive movement.  The Vikings shot 16 free throws in the first half but were able to sink only six.

Senior guard Madden Whitlock also had a good all-around game for the Tigers, scoring ten of his 12 points in the first quarter. 

Earlier in the day in Ferndale, the Redmond Mustangs of the 4A Kingco League defeated the Golden Eagles, 70-43.

The Golden Eagles led 9-7 before the Mustangs went on a 10-0 run and led 17-9 at the end of the first quarter. 

What stood out about Redmond was their ability to get the ball down the floor quickly for easy transition shots.  They mainly used the forward pass instead of the dribble to beat the Golden Eagle defenders down the floor. 

Matthew Grabarski, a 6-5 junior, and Drew Grumback, a 5-10 senior, did the damage for the Mustangs, the two combined for 24 of the Mustang’s 32 points first-half points, as they led 32-19 at intermission. 

Ferndale senior forward, Mantaj Singh led the Golden Eagles with 16 points.

2025 1A state tournament representative Bear Creek (18-7 last year) logged two wins over NWC teams over the weekend.  The Grizzlies won at Meridian on Friday, 70-52, then got a 66-43 win at Blaine on Saturday.

The Trojans kept the game close until the middle of the third quarter, then the Grizzlies put the game away in the fourth quarter.  At Blaine, the Grizzlies, who were ousted by Chelan in last year’s state tournament, took a 20-9 after eight minutes, and pulled away from there. 

The news was better in Oak Harbor, as the Wildcats won their first game of the season, 75-61, over Marysville-Pilchuck, of the 3A Wesco North.  The Tomahawks led for much of the first half until the Wildcats took the lead after halftime and pulled away.

The Nooksack Valley Pioneers got a road win on Saturday over Cedar Park Christian, 53-49.  The Eagles went 9-14 in the Emerald City League last year.

The Pioneers led at the first two breaks but were down by nine points at the end of the third quarter. 

The Pioneers rallied and tied the game on a 3-pointer by senior forward Dane Ackerman with 3:30 left. 

Leading by two points with 18 seconds to go, senior guard Jayden Anderson hit two free throws to secure the win.

Bellingham hosted the city jamboree for the three city schools on Saturday.  Sehome, Squalicum, and Bellingham girls and boys teams all played two 10-minute games, rotating against each other.

These mini games served their purpose, as teams were able to get game action without game win-loss pressure.  They are able to get those first-day jitters out of the way.  Get the feet moving sideways, get some fouls in, and measure those cross-court passes.

My memory of jamborees past is a full Lynden Christian gym (in the 70’s), where six Whatcom County League teams would play two eight-minute quarters. 

Think about a full Lynden Chrisitan gym.  Then think about fans of six different teams going in and out of that gym.  Fact was, not many would leave once they got in.  In those days, that was a major event.

Anacortes, Mount Baker, and Lynden Christian football squads all lost state tournament games on Saturday, so they will be taking to the floor soon.  No one will have much time to tune up, as conference games begin a week from Monday, and ten teams have yet to play their first game.

~ Ted House