PREP BOYS' BASKETBALL: Lyncs' incredible run to end game nets tri-district title

The Lynden Christian boys' basketball team found itself down by 15 points with 5:56 left in the Class 1A Tri-District championship game to Bellevue Christian on Saturday, Feb. 18, at Mountlake Terrace.

What happened the rest of the game was all Lyncs.

Lynden Christian went on a 24-6 run to finish the game, took its first lead of the game with 1:27 left to go and defeated Bellevue Christian 59-56 to claim the tri-district championship.

The win sets up the Lyncs (20-4) for a Glacier Peak regional game against Onalaska at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24. Onalaska knocked off Lynden Christian in the regional last year.

"We are excited to be in a position we are in," Lynden Christian coach Roger DeBoer said in a phone interview. "It's special to see how excited and happy (the players) are. We have some unfinished business to do."

The Lyncs had some work to do to get back into the game against Bellevue Christian. Down 50-35 with 5:56 to go in the fourth quarter, the Lyncs went on a 14-0 run to pull within one point. Later, the Lyncs took their first lead of the game when Truman Van Dalen hit a 3-pointer with 1:27 to go.

During the game-ending 24-6 run, four different players hit 3-pointers and the Lyncs used a full-court man-to-man press.

"Everything began to click," DeBoer said. "It really sparked a lot of emotion and we got momentum."

Bellevue Christian had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but its 3-pointer rimmed out.

Isaac Reimer led the Lyncs with 24 points and eight rebounds. Dustin Brandsma had seven points and Nolan Wolffis and Nathan Meppelink each had six points for Lynden Christian.

LYNDEN CHRISTIAN 59, BELLEVUE CHRISTIAN 56

LC 11 12 9 27 - 59

BC 14 20 10 12 - 56

Lynden Christian: Nolan Wolffis 6, Nathan Meppelink 6, Levi Vander Yacht 3, Truman Van Dalen 4, Daulton Hommes 4, Jordan Van Kooten 3, Dustin Brandsma 7, Isaac Reimer 24, Cody Bierlink, Willy Scholten 2. Team totals: 18-50 15-22 59.

Bellevue Christian: Thor Coyle 3, Rajan Hanstad 11, Taylor Hazen, Jake Marvin, Kemper McQuaid, Ethan Mitchell 6, Bryce Oldham 11, Nick Schubert 14, Jake VandenBrink 11. Team totals: 21-44 8-13 56.

3-ptg: LC 8 (Reimer 3), BC 6 (Hanstad 3). Rebounds: LC 28 (Reimer 8), BC 29 (VandenBrink 6). Assists: LC 13 (Wolffis 3, Meppelink 3), BC 15 (Mitchell 4, Schubert 4). Fouls: LC 17, BC 22 (VandenBrink, Oldham). Turnovers: LC 7, BC 14.