Can the Lynden Christian girls successfully defend their Class 1A state title?
Time: 2 p.m. Saturday
Site: Mount Vernon High School
What’s at stake: The winner advances to the Class 1A state quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Yakima Valley SunDome. The loser will face the winner of the regional between Seattle Chrisitan and Burbank Columbia in an elimination game at 10:30 a.m. at the SunDome.
Scouting the Wildcats
Coach: Herm Van Weerdhuizen
State tournament apperances (record): 13 (12-24)
State titles: None
RPI ranking: No. 7
League: Trico (first, 10-0)
Road to the regional: Beat Montesano 66-64 in the championship game of the Class 1A Southwest District Tournament.
The Wildcats are making their third straight trip to state, but haven’t advanced past the regional round the past two years, losing to Nooksack Valley last year. The Wildcats showed good ability from the outside, hitting four 3-points in the final quarter in their title game win over Montesano. Bethan Whitten hit two of them, while Taylor Mills led La Center with 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Scouting the Lyncs
Coach: Brady Bomber
State tournament apperances (record): 36 (107-31)
State titles: 11 (1979, ’80, ’90, ’91,’92, ’96, ’98, ’99, 2008, ’14, ’16)
RPI ranking: No. 2
League: Northwest Conference (first, 13-0)
Road to the regional: Won the Class 1A Northwest District Tournament title and then beat Seattle Academy 62-37 in the District 1/2 championship game.
The defending state champions are making their 13th straight trip to state. The Lyncs’ only loss so far this season came by just six points against Bishop Blanchet on Dec. 22. Sam Van Loo has been leading the way for LC with 12.2 points per game, but Avery Dykstra isn’t far behind at 11.9, and Isabela Hernandez is chipping in 9.7. And don’t overlook Riley Dykstra (7.2), Riley VanHulzen (5.9), Emmalee Bailey (5.1) or Torina Hommes (5.0), who give the Lyncs a balanced attack. Then there’s Grace Sterk, who scored a game-high 18 against Seattle Academy.
This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Can the Lynden Christian girls successfully defend their Class 1A state title?."