YAKIMA - Lynden Christian's lone senior Kayla Tiemersma wanted the Lyncs "to go out with a bang." Coach Curt De Haan wanted to see LC put together a strong showing during the group's last time playing together.

The Lyncs accomplished both those objectives early Saturday morning, March 2, at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Lynden Christian entered the Hardwood Classic playing its best basketball, winners of 12 straight. The Lyncs' loss against eventual state champion Brewster and more so its narrow win against Okanogan didn't reflect what De Haan had seen from LC the last month of the season.

With a fourth-place trophy on their minds, the Lyncs put it all together against Cascade Christian. LC used its trademark suffocating defense and shot well from the outside to earn a comfortable 60-43 win against the Cougars.

"It was a real nice game to finish on," De Haan said. "We feel like we really haven't played our best basketball. We wanted to go out strong. I thought we did a real good job defensively today."

Did they ever. Lynden Christian's defense, spearheaded by Makayla Lancaster's five steals, forced Cascade Christian into 27 turnovers. The Lyncs took 20 more shots than the Cougars, largely because Cascade Christian rarely got the ball up the floor without LC defenders hounding them.

Kaycee Creech, who entered the Hardwood Classic averaging 18.4 points, went 0 for 4 from the field, and the Cougars recorded only four assists.

"They have three outstanding guards, and for the girls to force them into 27 turnovers, that has kind of been our trademark with hard work ethic from our guards," De Haan said.

Lynden Christian was clicking on the offensive end, too. A day after shooting 34 percent from the field and 28 percent from the 3-point line, the Lyncs shot 44 percent (22 of 50) from the field and 53.8 percent (7 of 13) from deep.

Courtney Hollander and Sally Vlas each scored a team-best 15 points, Karley De Jager added nine and Tiemersma scored seven.

"I think we realized it was our last game," Vlas said. "We had to collect ourselves a little bit, because Brewster was a little bit of an upset. ... We gave it our absolute best."

Lynden Christian started slow - a trend that continued Saturday following slow beginnings Thursday and Friday. Once the second quarter started, LC played arguably the best eight minutes it played all season.

De Haan said Cascade Christian played a 1-2-2 zone the Lyncs "weren't quite ready for" to start the game. LC made proper adjustments at the end of the first quarter and outscored the Cougars 16-0 in the second.

"The second quarter we knew we had to get the ball up and just go," Tiemersma said. "We wanted to get a good head start by halftime, and that's what we did. We executed our offense really well and just went for it."

Lynden Christian had Hollander flash in the middle of CC's zone. The move allowed LC to better distribute and find the open shooter. The Lyncs finished with 10 assists.

Vlas had five points in the quarter, Hollander had four and Kara Bajema hit a 3-pointer before the half to give LC a 21-10 lead.

De Haan credited LC's deep bench for the Lyncs' ability to apply such constant defensive pressure. Sara Dougan, Kassidy Aldrich and Bajema entered the game midway through the first, gave good minutes and allowed Lancaster, Vlas and De Jager time to rest and get ready for the second quarter.

"We felt that we had more depth than they do," De Haan said. "We went to our bench right away. With our rotations and stuff, we are able to force them into turnovers."

It helped Creech got into early foul trouble. The Cougars' leading scorer finished with 13 points, but all of them came from the free-throw line.

Lynden Christian cruised in the second half. Vlas and Hollander combined for 13 third-quarter points. Cascade Christian cut the Lyncs' lead to 42-29 with 6:09 left in the game, but LC went on a 10-3 run during the next three minutes to put the game away.

Tiemersma said it was a great way to end a fine season and an even better career.

"I am very pleased with my team," she said. "I am very proud of how we worked together, how we came out with a bang, how we ended with a win. We worked so hard in practice. We worked so hard in games, and to have this outcome is amazing. And I couldn't be happier."

De Haan said he's excited about the future of the LC program. Tiemersma is the Lyncs' only loss, and bench players Dougan, Aldrich and Bajema have made tremendous strides as the season has progressed. The Lynden Christian coach said Tiemersma's outstanding leadership and determination will be missed, though.

"Kayla has been a big force for us as far as her post presence is concerned," De Haan said. "She brings a hard work ethic every day to practice and really encourages younger players to keep stepping up their game and to get better every day."

The fourth-place finish was the ninth year in a row the Lyncs have collected a state trophy.

Reach Andrew Lang at andrew.lang@bellinghamherald.com or call 360-756-2862.

LYNDEN CHRISTIAN 60, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 43

Cascade Christian 10 0 15 18 - 43

Lynden Christian 7 16 17 20 - 60

FG FT Reb

CASCADE CHRISTIAN Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Holly Suggs 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Julia Inderbitzin 10 0-2 1-2 1-1 0 0 1

Kaycee Creech 29 0-4 13-18 2-6 0 4 13

Audria Scott 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Katie Rozumny 31 4-8 4-5 0-2 3 2 12

Olivia Tuttle 3-5 0-1 0-1 1-2 1 3 8

Chloe Read 27 2-5 1-2 0-2 0 4 5

Savannah Hunter 25 2-5 0-0 3-6 0 1 4

Bailey Smelser 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Kenzie Bjornson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Vanessa Beane 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 11-30 19-28 9-27 4 14 43

Percentages: FG .367, FT .679. 3-Point FG: 2-8, .250 (Suggs 0-1, Creech 0-1, Rozumny 0-2, Tuttle 2-4). Blocked Shots: 3 (Read 1, Hunter 2). Steals: 8 (Suggs 1, Creech 2, Rozumny 3, Tuttle 2). Turnovers: 27 (Suggs 1, Inderbitzin 2, Creech 4, Rozumny 3, Tuttle 4, Read 7, Hunter 4, team 2).

FG FT Reb

LYNDEN CHRISTIAN Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Makayla Lancaster 24 1-2 0-0 2-4 3 2 3

Haley Hollander 2 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 2 2

Kara Bajema 13 2-5 0-0 1-2 0 1 5

Courtney Hollander 23 3-5 7-8 2-2 2 0 15

Sally Vlas 23 6-9 1-2 3-4 2 4 15

Kassidy Aldrich 8 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 4 0

Karley De Jager 23 4-9 1-2 0-2 0 2 9

Sara Dougan 12 1-5 0-0 0-1 0 2 2

Emma Stump 2 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 2

Carli Tjoelker 2 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0

Kayla Tiemersma 22 3-10 0-0 0-3 2 5 7

Morgan Van Kooten 4 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Totals 22-50 9-12 10-26 10 21 60

Percentages: FG .440, FT ..750 3-Point FG: 7-13, .538 (Lancaster 1-1, Bajema 1-3, Hollander 2-2, Vlas 2-3, Aldrich 0-2, Tiemersma 1-2). Blocked Shots: 3 (Bajema 1, Hollander 2). Steals: 12 (Lancaster 5, Hollander 2, Vlas 2, Dougan 1, Tiemersma 2). Turnovers: 15 (Lancaster 2, Hollander 1, Bajema 1, Hollander 3, Vlas 4, De Jager 1, Dougan 1, Tjoelker 1, Tiemersma 1).

2012-13 RESULTS

Nov. 29 at Sehome W 51-34

Nov. 30 King's W 49-46

Dec. 4 at Ferndale L 56-49

Dec. 7 Gleneagle W 60-19

Dec. 11 at Burlington-Edison W 56-38

Dec. 14 at Blaine* W 38-36

Dec. 17 Bellingham* W 65-33

Dec. 21 at Mount Baker* W 62-24

Dec. 27 Cashmere W 48-47

Dec. 28 Bellevue Christian W 65-31

Jan. 3 Burlington-Edison* L 43-40

Jan. 7 at Anacortes* W 56-33

Jan. 11 at Lynden* W 50-27

Jan. 14 Ferndale* L 47-44

Jan. 19 at Friday Harbor W 67-16

Jan. 22 Sedro-Woolley* W 61-19

Jan. 24 at Meridian* W 46-8

Jan. 26 Nooksack Valley* W 38-37

Jan. 29 at Squalicum* W 72-28

Feb. 1 Sehome* W 47-31

CLASS 1A NORTHWEST DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Feb. 4 Coupeville W 55-18

Feb. 6 Nooksack Valley W 43-37

Feb. 8 King's (at Mountlake Terrace) W 45-18

CLASS 1A TRI-DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Feb. 15 University Prep (at Mountlake Terrace) W 63-21

Feb. 16 Cascade Christian (at Lynnwood) W 51-36

CLASS 1A STATE TOURNAMENT

Feb. 22 Hoquiam (at Mount Vernon) W 72-11

Feb. 28 Brewster (at Yakima) L 61-56

March 1 Okanogan (at Yakima) W 44-42

March 2 Cascade Christian (at Yakima) W 60-43

FOURTH PLACE

2012-13 STATISTICS

No. Player Yr. Pos. G Pts. Avg.

10 Makayla Lancaster So. G 28 117 4.2

12 Haley Hollander Fr. G 15 11 0.7

15 Kara Bajema Fr. F 29 157 5.4

21 Courtney Hollander Jr. G 29 225 7.8

22 Sally Vlas Jr. G 26 179 6.9

24 Kassidy Aldrich So. G 23 110 4.8

30 Karley De Jager Jr. P 29 203 7.0

33 Sara Dougan So. P 28 105 3.8

34 Emma Stump Fr. F 20 35 1.8

43 Carli Tjoelker Fr. F 18 18 1.0

44 Kayla Tiemersma Sr. P 29 292 10.1

45 Morgan Van Kooten So. P 20 48 2.4

TROPHY CASE

Year Class Place

1978 1A Second

1979 1A First

1980 1A First

1982 1A Sixth

1983 1A Third

1984 1A Second

1985 1A Sixth

1987 1A Second

1988 1A Third

1989 1A Third

1990 1A First

1991 1A First

1992 1A First

1993 1A Second

1994 1A Third

1995 1A Sixth

1996 1A First

1997 1A Fifth

1998 1A First

1999 1A First

2000 2A Fifth

2005 2A Seventh

2006 2A Second

2007 1A Third

2008 1A First

2009 1A Fourth

2010 1A Third

2011 1A Second

2012 1A Third

2013 1A Fourth

SOURCE: WIAA.com

Reach ANDREW LANG at andrew.lang@bellinghamherald.com or call ext. 862.