Lynden used good ball movement and execution to beat visiting Burlington-Edison 69-43 on Saturday, Feb. 4, and lock up at least a share of its first Northwest Conference championship since the 2006-07 season.
The Lions (16-3, 11-1 NWC) also earned the top seed to next week's Class 2A Northwest District Tournament, as they own the tie-breaker with Anacortes after beating the Seahawks earlier this season. Lynden will host the Burlington-Edison/Sultan winner in a first-round game in the tournament on Saturday, Feb. 11.
"We certainly appreciate the conference title in this conference, because there are so many good teams," Lynden coach Brian Roper said in a phone interview. "To go through the whole season as conference champs is something we appreciate and hope to build on."
The Lions quickly jumped on top Saturday, building a 43-16 halftime in what Roper called "the best half of ball movement and execution that we have had all season." Lynden also shot the ball well, hitting eight of 12 3-pointers in the half.
In all the Lions finished with 18 assists, led by Jaremy Martin's five from off the bench.
"Jaremy played three positions for us tonight and does a lot of the little things to help the team be successful," Roper said. "I thought he had a really productive night."
As did Zach Vis, who added six rebounds, five steals and four assists to his 10 points in 16 minutes of playing time.
"Zach filled out the stat sheet really well," Roper said. "He was really active. It was like there were three of him out there."
Nate Wielenga led the Lions with 14 points, while Dak Shagren and Matt Meyer each scored 11.
Lynden wraps up the regular season on Monday, Feb. 6, at Sedro-Woolley.
LYNDEN 69, BURLINGTON-EDISON 43
Burlington-Edison 11 5 13 14 - 43
Lynden 17 26 12 14 - 69
Burlington-Edison: Taylor Nelson 6, Nathan Haddock 1, Dalton Schwetz 0, Isaak Davies 10, Austin Von Herbulis 2, Daron Browning 4, Aaron Watts 10, Jeremy Canniff 10. Team Totals: 15-38 12-21 43.
Lynden: Josh Kraght 2, Lucas Jacob 5, Zach Vis 10, John Shine 7, Dak Shagren 11, Jaremy Martin 4, Nate Wielenga 14, Jalani Phelps 2, Scott Hastings 2, Matt Meyer 11, Bret DeGraaff 1. Team totals: 26-50 9-14 69.
3-ptg: Burlington-Edison 1 (Davies), Lynden 8 (Shagren 2). Rebounds: Burlington-Edison 27 (Watts 5), Lynden 21 (Vis 6, Meyer 6). Assists: Burlington-Edison 10 (Schwetz 3), Lynden 18 (Martin 5). Fouls: Burlington-Edison 13, Lynden 18. Turnovers: Burlington-Edison 17, Lynden 7.
