Tight NL Games Get Teams Ready for Full Conference Week

With week number two complete, we are down to two squads that have yet to hit the hardwood.  Mount Baker starts their season at Sedro-Woolley on Monday.  While Anacortes travels to Ferndale on Tuesday.

Speaking of Sedro-Woolley, the Cubs are one of my early pics as a “contender” to the Northwest Conference boy’s title.  (One of my 16!)

The Cubs opened their season on Thursday, as they hosted the Stanwood Spartans, who edged Mount Vernon, two days prior. 

The first thing that impressed me was the lack of parking spaces that remained 40 minutes prior to tip.  The stands weren’t at capacity by game time, but the Cubs did draw a big crowd for opening night.  It was good to see the early support from the Cubs boosters.

Their team rewarded them with a 13-2 start, that turned into a 57-48 win.

2025 All-NWC first-teamer, Ethan DeJong, created an early highlight reel.  After a 3-pointer by Cubs senior guard, Jae Thompson, got the Cubs on the scoreboard, DeJong followed with two dunks on his first two shots of the season.

The first was on a fast break after a Cubs steal.  DeJong took the ball on the run on the left side and beat his defender to the rim.  A few seconds later, DeJong made a back-door cut from the left wing and took a pass from senior guard, Cliff Tadema, for his second two-hand flush.  DeJong added three 3-pointers on his way to a 28-point night, despite a defender in his chest for 32 minutes.

ATTENTION, you kids at home: If you want to see how to get open without the ball, watch DeJong move around the floor.  Even with a defender assigned to keep him away from the ball, he knows how to use teammates’ screens, and change speed and direction to get open.

Yes, there’s a lot of “DeJong” here.  But the Cubs are deeper than that.

This was a very rough and physical game.  That is to be expected at this time of the season.  The physicality was mainly displayed by all the guards on the floor.  Defenders were tight, causing lots of body contact on ball handlers.  And if someone did get a lane to the bucket, it was brief.  And rebounding?  Yes, you had to be tough there too!

Remember I mentioned last week about the feet being a little slow in the first game or two, causing some extra fouls?  (Well, I did).  That may have been the Cubs bug-a-boo in the first half, as the Spartans went to the free throw line 14 times, but made only seven.  The Cubs were 4-6.

The Cubs ran out to a quick 13-2 lead and the spread stayed close to that through the first half, as the Cubs led 31-20 at the break. 

The Cubs’ largest lead was 17 points in the third quarter.  The Spartans could get no closer than nine points in the final frame. 

Tadema tossed in 14 points for the Cubs.  The team played a strong physical defense.  Isaac Johnson, their 6-5 senior forward, did not have his shooting range zeroed in, as he scored only six points, but played well at the defensive end as the “rim protector” against the Spartans.

Two days prior, the Spartans got a home win over Mount Vernon, 64-61. 

The Bulldogs showed off a part of the offensive game that you don’t see much in a normal basketball game these days at any level.  Taran Hanjrah, a 6-5 senior forward, and 6-7 sophomore Kingston Collins, showed off a very impressive low post game.  Hanjrah led the Bulldogs with 26 points, all from inside the paint, or the free throw line.

Hanjrah hit two free throws with 1:10 left to pull the Bulldogs to within four points but they could not get the score to one possession with the ball.

The Sehome Mariners looked like title contenders in their 85-59 win over Marysville-Pilchuck on Tuesday.  The Mariners led by 20 points by halftime, and by 30 after three quarters.

Senior forward Xavier Kelley scored from everywhere on his way to 35 points.  Junior guard Quincy Tanovan exhibited his soft touch from the outside, scoring 25 of his own. 

The Mariners did a lot of things right in their first game of the year.  They sliced and diced the Tomahawks zone defense by using perfect spacing and pinpoint passing.  Ball reversals meant open 3-pointers, and the Mariners used the fast break to perfection. 

On Thursday, however, things did not go as well in a 67-63 loss to Holy Cross, BC.  On this night, the open shots were not as available, but 6-2 senior post, Cole Turrell, showed his low post maneuvers in a 20-point night.  The Mariners also lost a home game to Lummi Nation on Saturday, 65-51.

Back to Tuesday, the Blaine Borderites had no trouble with the La Conner Braves in a 77-23 win. 

After a 6-6 tie in the first four minutes, the Borderites outscored the Braves 38-2 over the next 12 minutes.  Junior guard, Dawson Dohner, led the Borderites with 13 points.  Senior guard Kai Kerwin added 11, while six other players scored between eight and nine points. 

The next day, the Borderites took a big boat to Friday Harbor and sailed to a 52-39 win.

Burlington-Edison improved to 2-0 on the season with an 85-61 win at home over Mariner of the 4A Wesco Conference.  Senior forward Logan Heigert scored in the first three seconds of the game from an opening tip play.  He scored 34 more over the next 31:57.

The Tigers got their third win of the season on the road on Friday.  An 81-78 overtime win over Kingston of the 2A Olympic League.

Trailing by two with 13 seconds left in regulation, Heigert tipped a Kingston pass that was grabbed by the Tigers senior guard, Blake Montiel, who lobbed a perfect pass to a racing Heigert, who’s lay-in tied the game with 3.5 seconds left.

After a timeout, Kingston raced the ball down floor and a runner from 18 feet bounced away.

In overtime, senior guard Madden Whitlock, who scored 30 points on the night, scored six of those in the last two minutes to help secure the Tigers’ lead.  Leading by three points, the Tigers survived a potential tying shot at the buzzer by Kingston.

A lot of effort was put out in Lakewood on Tuesday, but neither team came away with and actual “W” or an “L,” when the Cougars hosted Lummi Nation.

A 69-69 “No Contest” was the result of this overtime game that spanned two gyms.

The teams fought through lighting problems in the Cougars gym, and with just over three minutes to play, they had to move to an auxiliary gym.  The game was forced to end after one overtime. 

The Meridian Trojans lost games on back-to-back nights at home.  On Thursday, they lost to Mount Vernon Christian, 67-63, and the next night to Holy Cross, BC, 49-33.  They are 0-3 on the season.

In the game against Mount Vernon Christian, senior guard Matthew Blankenburg scored on a pass from junior guard Trey Alexander, which tied the game at 55-55 with 55 seconds to play. 

After a Hurricanes miss, the Trojans had a chance for the win, but junior guard Gabe Galbraith’s put-back of a loose ball rebound was deflected at the buzzer.

The game went to overtime, where senior forward Daniel Larsen sank two free throws with 1.5 seconds left to force a second overtime.

With 16 seconds left in the second OT and with the Trojans trailing by two points, the Hurricanes stole the Trojans inbounds pass, forcing the Trojans to foul.  MVC added a free throw, and the Trojans still had a chance, but a game tying 3-pointer was off target.  The Hurricanes added another free throw for the final margin.

Also on Thursday, the Squalicum Storm got a 62-45 win at home over Sultan.  The Storm led by only two points at halftime but pulled away from there behind the 26 points from junior forward Blake Elston. 

Earlier in the week, Nooksack Valley won at Sultan, 69-30 to raise their early season record to 2-0.  The Pioneers will host Lakewood on Wednesday.

The Lynden Lions took the floor for the first time on Saturday but suffered a 70-67 loss to Meadowdale of the 3A Wesco South.  The Mavericks came in with a 2-0 record and point differential of 94 points in wins over Cascade (Everett) and Jackson.

The “first-game-feet” theory was part of the problem for the Lions, as they needed several minutes to account for the team speed of the Mavericks.  The Lions trailed 8-0 and 13-3 before being able to settle in and allow their tempo to emerge.

The Lions closed the gap to three points early in the second quarter and took a 25-22 lead with 4:30 left in the half.  But the Mavericks turned up the heat again and outscored the Lions 13-5 for a 35-30 lead at halftime.

The Mavericks run continued from there, eventually opening up a 60-41 lead with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.

But four quick points by the Lions, before the end of the quarter, were part of an 18-2 run that cut the Mavericks lead to 62-59 with 1:50 remaining in the game.

The Mavericks were able to push the lead back to seven before junior guard Malachi Koenen hit a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner to cut the deficit to four with 37 seconds left.

The teams exchanged free throws before a long 3-point jumper by senior forward Spencer Adams brought the Lions to within 69-67 with 5.3 seconds left.  The Mavs added a free throw with 3.8 seconds left, giving the Lions one last chance for the tie.

The Lions were able to work the ball down the floor, but Koenen’s long 3-point attempt from just inside the right sideline fell short.

Adams hit five 3-pointers and finished with 26 points.  Sophomore guard Jayden Navarre added 12, and junior forward Lewis Whitney finished with ten points off the bench.

The Mavericks had four starters in double-figures, and a fifth had nine points.  Both teams hit ten 3-point shots on the night.

After a choppy schedule over the first eight days of the season, things smooth out nicely over the next six days.

My schedule pencils in with Meridian at Sehome on Monday; Oak Harbor at Lynden on Tuesday; Lakewood at Nooksack Valley on Wednesday; Sedro-Woolley at Lynden Christian on Thursday; Mount Vernon at Anacortes on Friday; and a couple choices for Saturday.

May your feet be with you.

~ Ted House