Though many of them will continue their athletic careers in a number of sports at colleges around the region, Friday, March 8, will mark the final night to see this season's senior standouts from Whatcom County take to the basketball court as high school players.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Whatcom County will host the 27th Annual Basketball Classic on Friday at Jake Maberry Gymnasium at Lynden High School.
Activities will begin at 6:15 p.m. with the girls' 3-point contest, followed by the girls' all-star game. The boys' 3-point contest and slam dunk competition will begin at 8 p.m. and will be followed by the all-star game.
Tickets will be sold at the door, with adults costing $8 and kids 12 and under costing $5. This is not an ASB event.
The County Girls' All-Stars will be coached by Rick DeGraff and Dave Hommes and the roster will include: Lynden's Maddi Hommes, Taylor VanDalen and Miriah Brown; Lynden Christian's Kayla Tiemersma; and Nooksack Valley's Melissa Stadt, Morgan Perry, Lindy Swanson, Kaycee DeBruin and Lauren Dykstra.
The City Girls' All-Stars will be coached by Joy Kok and the roster will include: Bellingham's Olivia Halverson; Meridian's Kendall DeMerice; Ferndale's Koral Weidkamp and Kendra Bodger; Sehome's Rachel Albert, Hallie Messenger and Meagan McIntyre; and Squalicum's Janna Poradun and Jessica Greene.
The County Boys' All-Stars will be coached by Jerry Blankers and Bob Kildall and the roster will include: Blaine's Gabe Trump; Lynden's Dak Shagren, John Shine, Matt Meyer, Zach Vis and Josh Kraght; Lynden Christian's Nathan Meppelink, Truman VanDalen, Dustin Brandsma and Isaac Reimer; and Nooksack Valley's Brandon Gwinner.
The City Boys' All-Stars will be coached by Dick Stark and Jacob Stevenson and the roster will include: Bellingham's Alex Check and Nick Zeegers; Ferndale's Kendall Kelly; Meridian's Edward Garcia; Mount Baker's Zan Roman ; Sehome's Charlie Linneman, Gabe Sanchez and Noah Cyr-Moore ; and Squalicum's Alex Yuska and Blake Harmon .
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS
Lynden Christian's Reimer and Lynden's Shine were selected to first-team All-Tournament in the Class 1A and Class 2A state tournaments, respectively, last weekend at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Reimer averaged 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds in the three games during the tournament to help the Lyncs place fifth in the 1A ranks.
Shine averaged 14.0 points and 5.7 rebounds during the tournament to help the Lions come home with the third-place trophy.
Lynden Christian's Courtney Hollander was selected second-team all-tournament in the 1A girls' tournament, LC's Meppelink made the second-team all-tournament team for the 1A boys and Lynden's Shagren was second-team all-tournament for the 2A boys.
Brewster's Chandler Smith was MVP of the 1A girls' tournament. She was joined on the first team by Castle Rock's Tierney Uhlenkott, Brewster's Becky Taylor, Chelan's Abby Phelps and Castle Rock's Maddi Seidl.
Toledo's Brennan Rakoz was the MVP of the 1A boys' tournament. He was joined on the first team by Okanogan's Justin Rivas, King's Caleb Taylor, Toledo's Austin Trafelet and Reimer.
Mark Morris' Kourtney Eaton was the MVP of the 2A girls' tournament. She was joined on the first team by W.F. West's Jamika Parker, River Ridge's Jazzlynn Brewster, Renton's Jordan Armstrong and W.F. West's Olivia Erskine.
Pullman's Corey Langerveld was the MVP of the 2A boys' tournament. He was joined on the first team by Shine, Burlington-Edison's Austin Von Herbulis, Anacortes' Andrew Medalia and Clover Park's David Crisp.
WASILEWSKI HEADING TO WALLA WALLA
Meridian senior Sydney Wasilewski has signed a National Letter of Intent and accepted a scholarship offer to play volleyball for Walla Walla Community College next fall.
Wasilewski, a 6-foot, right side hitter, was twice selected the Trojans' Best Offensive Player and was the team's Most Valuable Player last fall.
According to a press release, Wasilewski chose Walla Walla over Montana State-Northern, Whitman College, Central Washington and Idaho.
Last fall, the Warriors went 34-12 and placed third at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community College Tournament - the sixth time they have placed in the top three over the past nine years.
"It is nice to get a west side player over to this side of the mountains," Walla Walla coach Tim Toon said in a press release. "Sydney is going to be a very strong right-side player in this program, with a good chance to make an immediate impact. She hits the ball very hard and is up big on the block. Sydney is versatile, and I could see us adding more and more responsibilities as her career develops at Walla Walla CC."
Bellingham softball alumni game: The Red Raiders are seeking former Bellingham softball players for an alumni game to be held on a to-be-determined Saturday during May. Interested players should contact Bellingham coach Rick Ellis at 360-319-4873.
Reach DAVID RASBACH at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2271.
