DAVID RASBACH - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
LYNDEN - It may have been 11 days since the Lynden boys' basketball team last took the court for a game thanks to last week's winter weather, but the Lions certainly weren't sitting around. "We were still working hard here," junior guard Dak Shagren said. "Almost every day, we were in here practicing and preparing, because we knew we were eventually going to have to face some pretty good teams, and we wanted to be ready." Lynden certainly looked well prepared on Monday, Jan. 23, when the Lions were finally able to resume their Northwest Conference season in a battle of two of the NWC's three remaining unbeaten teams in conference play entering the night. The Lions' crisp passing, aggressive defense, effective shooting and athleticism were simply too much for Sehome, as Lynden walked away with a 69-34 victory.
The Mariners (10-4, 6-1 NWC) were held to 11 second-half points, while Lynden (12-2, 7-0) used double-digit runs in all four quarters to build the impressive margin. Shagren led the way for the Lions with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Josh Kraght, Zach Vis and Nate Wielenga each recorded four assists.
"It was an interesting week last week," Lynden coach Brian Roper said. "We kept practicing and practicing, not really sure who we would be playing. We prepared for three different teams last week, and we ended up playing the last one. It was good to get in the gym, though."
Sehome wasn't quite as fortunate.
While Lynden was able to practice every day except for taking the day off on Wednesday, the Mariners, who like Lynden played their last game on Jan. 12, were only able to get in the gym on Monday and Saturday because Bellingham School District rules prohibit practices on days school is cancelled, Sehome coach A.J. LaBree said.
"I don't want to use that as an excuse," LaBree said. "Lynden played a heck of a game tonight, and that is a very good team. Just about everything we tried, they took us out of. I think we tried 15 different sets tonight, and we never found anything that really worked against them."
Defensively, things weren't any better for the Mariners, as Lynden passers repeatedly found an open shooter in the perfect spot on the floor to get a bucket. In all, eight different players logged an assist for the Lions, who finished with 18 in the game. "Those are stats we like to hear," Roper said. "Eight guys with assists, I think that shows the amount of balance we have on this team." It also shows some of the hard work Lynden put in last week during its unexpected midseason break, as Shagren said it was a focus for the team in practice sessions. "We knew against a good team like Sehome we needed to look to make good passes," Shagren said. "We worked in practice on making that extra pass to find the open guy." It certainly worked to perfection, as Lynden shot 8 for 10 from the field in the first quarter and used an 11-0 run to storm back from an early deficit and take a 21-14 lead by the end of the period. An 11-0 run in the second quarter helped the Lions stretch that advantage to 38-20 by halftime, and an 11-1 streak in the third made it 52-31 after three. Sehome opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from Noah Cyr-Moore on its first possession, but the Lions closed out the game on a 17-0 run. Lynden finished the game hitting 28 of 51 (54.9 percent) of its field goal attempts. "They did a great job of beating our press and getting the ball to the open man," LaBree said. "They did a good job of shutting us down defensively. Nothing we tried really seemed to work against them, and from there, it just snowballed." Wielenga joined Shagren in double figures with 11 points, while John Shine had nine and Jaremy Martin recorded seven points and five rebounds. Lucas Jacob also turned in a good game off the bench with five points and six rebounds. Sehome was led by 10 points from Gabe Sanchez, while Cyr-Moore scored nine and Drew Ronson tallied eight points and a team-high five rebounds. "We knew this was a big game, and we wanted to make sure we showed what we could do and come out on top," Shagren said. "We wanted to make a statement." You can bet the Lions' next opponent - Squalicum - was listening. The Lions and Storm will meet at Squalicum in an 8 p.m. game on Wednesday, Jan. 25. "I'm not concerned about getting these guys up to play a team like Squalicum," Roper said. "Squalicum has been at the top of the league for a long time, and deservedly so. It's a big game, but it's only one game."
Sehome will try to bounce back on Wednesday when it travels to Blaine.
Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2271.
LYNDEN 69, SEHOME 34
Sehome 14 9 8 3 - 34
Lynden 21 17 14 17 - 69
Sehome: Drew Ronson 8, Evan Miksovsky 0, Jake Slesk 0, Lawrence Strasser 0, Konstantin Andrushenko 1, Brant Ward 0, Noah Cyr-Moore 9, Charles Linneman 5, Riley Fraser 1, Malik Williams 0, Gabe Sanchez 10, Jake Schacht 0. Team totals: 11-47 9-15 34.
Lynden: Josh Kraght 0, Lucas Jacob 5, Zach Vis 4, John Shine 9, Dak Shagren 21, Jaremy Martin 7, Nate Wielenga 11, Jalani Phelps 0, Scott Hastings 0, Matt Meyer 8, Marcus Fakkema 2, Bret DeGraaff 2. Team totals: 28-51 8-17 69.
3-pointers: Sehome 3 (Cyr-Moore 3); Lynden 5 (Shagren 3). Rebounds: 23 (Ronson 5), Lynden 41 (Shagren 9). Assists: Sehome 2 (Andrushenko 2); Lynden 18 (Kraght 4, Vis 4, Wielenga 4). Team fouls: Sehome 17, Lynden 14. Turnovers: Sehome 15, Lynden 11.
