Welcome to Finals Week, 2026

As of Monday, it’s Finals week.  Has your team kept their grades up all season, and is ready for Finals Week exams, or have they been daydreaming in class and in need of learning two semesters of geology in three hours?  Fortunately, either way, they are all still in line for a passing grade.

The Lynden Christian boys finished rivalry week by locking up the conference championship with a 72-54 win over Lynden. 

On the girls’ side, Lynden took sole possession of first place with their 55-35 win over Lynden Christian on Saturday night.  It was the Lions 66^th consecutive win, going back to December of 2023.

The Sedro-Woolley boys won the Chickenfest battle before a packed home gym on Friday night.  They beat Burlington-Edison 70-50.  And, on Thursday, the battle of BellingHome went to the Sehome Mariners, as they defeated rival Bellngham, 65-55.

In that game, Mariners senior guard Nolan Wright set the early tone in front of a tightly packed crowd in the Mariners gym, by scoring their first eight points, totaling 13 in the first quarter alone.  But the Mariners 20-13 lead quickly evaporated.

Sophomore Emmett Vanhouten and senior Calvin Van Hofwegen hit back-to-back 3-point shots in the first minute of the second quarter.  Right after that, senior forward Joe Harward flushed a drop-step dunk from the low post to cap the Bayhawks 11-0 run and a 21-20 lead. 

The Bayhawks increased their lead to four points, 28-24, before the Mariners ran off the final eight points of the half.  The last five points came from reserve senior guard Alex Miller, who scored on a lay-in and a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half.

Every time the Mariners snuck in front, it was Van Hofwegen to the rescue for the Bayhawks.  Van Hofwegen hit consecutive 3-pointers to knot the score at 53-53 with 4:37 left in the game.  After a Sehome bucket, Van Hofwegen tied the game again with an inside score with 3:10 left, but that would be the Bayhawks final points of the game.

A 3-pointer by Wright at 2:37 gave the Mariners a four-point lead, then empty possessions by the Bayhawks and free throws by the Mariners put the game out of reach.

The senior, Wright, who had deferred points to teammates this season, took on more of a scoring role in this game, and finished with 20 points.  Senior forward Xavier Kelley finished with 13 points, and ten of those in the second half. 

Senior posts Cole Turrell and Carter Duckworth are fast becoming a dual threat on the inside for the Mariners, scored ten and nine points, respectively. 

Van Hofwegen hit five of his seven 3-point shots in the second half and led the Bayhawks with 25 points.  Harward finished with 13, with 11 coming in the first half. 

The win by the Mariners (9-4) kept them in the clump of 2A teams fighting for the top five seeds to the district tournament.  But it also showed that the Bayhawks, despite their 3-10 conference record, can be competitive with any team in that group.

In another packed gym in Sedro-Woolley on Friday night, the Cubs raised their conference record to 10-3 in their 70-50 win over Burlington-Edison.  The Tigers are now tied with the Mariners at 9-4.

The Cubs took control early, jumping out to an 11-2 lead.  Their relentlessness on the offensive and defensive glass gave them several second-chance points.  That was a big reason for the early lead, and in the final outcome. 

The intriguing matchup of this game was that of senior forwards Logan Heigert of the Tigers, and Ethan DeJong of the Cubs.  Heigert has a 26-point scoring average and a recent 45-point game.  DeJong leads the league at 29 points per game. 

DeJong is also a great defender, and is assigned to guard the opponent’s best player, which was true in this case. 

Heigert scored 19 points on the night under the tight defense of DeJong.  To his credit, most of the shots that garnered those 19 points came with a high degree of difficulty.  I watched in amazement on some of the shots Heigert was able to sink, with DeJong hounding him on defense.

On the other end, the Tigers tried multiple defenses, but none of those defensive looks could stop DeJong, who finished with 29 points on the night.  When he wasn’t scoring, senior guards Cliff Tadema and Jae Thompson hit clutch shot, after clutch shot.

The Cubs slowly pulled away in the second quarter, going on a 13-4 run after the Tigers had tied the score at 15-15.  They led at halftime, 28-19.

After the Tigers scored the first five points of the third quarter, it was a 3-point shot by Thompson that got the Cubs off and running again.  Then junior forward Camden Howell came off the bench to hit two 3-point shots to keep the Cubs lead at nine points.

That second 3-point shot by Howell were the first three points of a 13-2 run by the Cubs.  The last ten of those all came off the shooting hand of DeJong, and all in the final 1:43 of the third quarter.  The Cubs led 51-34 with the final eight minutes to play.

After DeJong’s 29, Tadema finished with 13, and played a great floor game, helping control the tempo for the Cubs.  Thompson hit three 3-point shots for his nine points.

Heigert finished with a hard fought 19 for the Tigers, while senior guard Madden Whitlock finished with 16. 

In Lynden on Saturday afternoon, the Lyncs defeated rival Lynden, 72-54, inside another jam-packed Lynden Christian gym.

he Lions had trouble with the Lyncs defense on their first two possessions, resulting in two turnovers, but they quickly recovered from a 4-0 deficit.  Senior forward Ty Jorgenson hit a 3-point shot and senior guard Brody Price followed with two free throws, and the Lions jumped in front 14-8 with 1:35 left in the opening quarter. 

The Lions success on getting the ball inside against the Lyncs, opened up the outside, and when junior guard Malachi Koenen sank his second three-pointer in the second quarter, it capped a 10-0 run to start the quarter, and the Lions led 26-13. 

After a timeout, the Lyncs went on a run of their own that started with a 3-pointer by junior guard, Dawson Hintz.  The Lyncs scored 11 straight points to get within 28-24.  A free throw by Lions senior forward Spencer Adams broke the LC streak with 1:09 left in the half, but the biggest play of the game came a minute later.

With 8 seconds left in the half, the Lyncs were to inbound the ball from their baseline.  The Lions dodged a bullet when a 3-point shot by Hintz missed, and Malachi Koenen secured the rebound for the Lions.

However, the ball was knocked loose by senior forward Boyce Robertson, who then was first to the ball and fed Hintz on the left wing.  His second 3-point attempt from deep on the left wing hit nothing but net as the halftime buzzer sounded.  The Lyncs trailed by only two points, 29-27, and had momentum leaving the floor at halftime.

Hintz hit a 3-point shot to start the third quarter, giving the Lyncs their first lead since early in the contest. 

While the Lyncs led for most of the third quarter, the Lions got within a point with 2:30 left, but the Lyncs went on an 11-2 run to close the quarter, leading 52-42 after three.

Hintz scored 22 points in a second half that included four 3-pointers and two dunks.  He finished with 31 points for the afternoon.  Kaden Veldman was next with 16 points, most coming fast break opportunities, or setups from Hintz or junior guard Gunnar Dykstra.

Jorgenson led the Lions with 16 points.  Malachi Koenen added 13, and Adams nine.

The week finished with the Lynden girls winning for the 66^th consecutive time, as they took a 55-35 win over Lynden Christian, in an event that drew will over 2000 fans at Jake Maberry Gym.  The win gives the Lions an 11-0 mark in the NWC with two games to play.  The Lyncs are 11-1 and will easily be the top seed to the 1A district tournament.

In the 1A boys’ capsule, Meridian is currently the #2 seed with a 4-9 record and wins over Nooksack Valley (3-10), Blaine (2-11), and Mount Baker (1-12). 

The Pioneers got a big 51-36 win over Squalicum on Friday for their fourth win in their last six games.  They will have finals week games against Oak Harbor and Lynden.  Meridian finishes with Sedro-Woolley and Bellingham.

Blaine has games left against Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley, while the Mountaineers will play Ferndale and Mount Vernon.

The 2A group is fighting for seeding that probably won’t mean a hill of beans.  Five teams are within two games of each other and are so tightly competitive that the top three places in the district tournament could go to about anyone in the field.  And don’t forget to add Archbishop Murphy to the list of contenders.

There is plenty left on the table for the 2A’s as here is a look at the finals week that they will be in store for:

Tuesday: Anacortes at Lynden and Lynden Christian at Lakewood.

Wednesday: Squalicum at Sehome

Thursday: Lakewood at Anacortes

Friday: Burlington-Edison at Sehome

The 3A’s are in a tussle for the last two places between Ferndale, Mount Vernon, and Oak Harbor.

The Golden Eagles have a win over the Bulldogs and are both 5-8.  Ferndale finishes with Mount Baker and Lynden Christian.  Mount Vernon plays Blaine and Mount Baker.

Oak Harbor, who lost to Ferndale but beat Mount Vernon, is 4-9 with games left against Nooksack Valley and Squalicum. 

So, open those books, grab those #2 pencils and study up y’all.  Be prepared for anything to happen, because it probably will.

~ Ted House