Anacortes hands Lynden first loss
Every basketball team, even one with a perfect record, Lynden coach Brian Roper said is capable of a clunker-type performance
And Lynden’s came Tuesday, Jan. 5, facing an Anacortes team the Lions couldn’t afford to play sub-par basketball against.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well, we didn’t execute very well ,and you know sometimes you have those nights,” Roper said.
The Lions trailed from the start and never could solve Anacortes’ stingy zone defense, suffering a 54-38 Northwest Conference home loss. The 38 points was a season low, 14 points below Lynden’s previous low mark.
Andrew Kivlighn scored a team-high 10 points, Jordan Wittenberg added eight, Christian Zamora scored seven and Lynden’s leading scorer, Sterling Somers, was held to only six points.
The Lions trailed 12-7 at the end of the first and 26-19 at half. A Zamora 3-pointer with 4:50 left in the fourth trimmed the Seahawks’ lead to 40-35, but Anacortes outscored Lynden 14-3 the rest of the way.
Anacortes guard Trystan Lowry scored a game-high 14 points and Tyler Blouin, Jesse Keltner and David Rodriguez each scored 11 in what was a slow-paced, halfcourt game.
Most valuable player
Anacortes junior forward Jesse Keltner didn’t start the game, but sure made his minutes count. He played strong defense inside logging two blocks, had two steals, four rebounds, had 11 points and seemed to score at crucial times for the Seahawks.
The game was over when ...
Anacortes forward David Rodriguez rebounded a miss from Keltner and was fouled on his putback. After converting the three-point play, the Seahawks led Lynden 46-35 with 2:48 to play.
Unsung hero of the game
No one gave Lynden too much to get excited about, but freshman forward Christian Zamora, whose minutes have increased of late, gave the Lions a nice spark with his defense, accumulating four steals and scoring seven points.
Up next
Lynden (9-1, 1-1 NWC) plays host to Meridian at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8, and will look to bounce back from its first loss. Anacortes (7-4, 3-0 NWC) travels to play Burlington-Edison at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7.
Anacortes 54, Lynden 38
Anacortes | 12 | 14 | 10 | 18 | — | 54 |
Lynden | 7 | 12 | 11 | 8 | — | 38 |
Anacortes: Eli Moore 0, Derek Vance 5, Tyler Blouin 11, Jesse Keltner 11, Trystan Lowry 14, Jacob South 0, Camden McLaughlin 0, David Rodriguez 11. Totals: 21-43 6-7 54.
Lynden: Clayton Whitman 4, Sterling Somers 6, Connor Shine 0, Andrew Kivlighn 10, Jordan Wittenberg 8, Christian Zamora 7, Davis Bode 3, James Marsh 0. Totals: 13-43 7-15 38.
3-point field goals — Anacortes: 6 (Blouin 6); Lynden: 4 (Kivlighn 2). Rebounds — Anacortes: 26 (Rodriguez 7); Lynden: 22 (Somers 8). Assists — Anacortes: 10 (South 3); Lynden: 6 (Marsh 2). Fouls — Anacortes: 14; Lynden: 10. Turnovers — Anacortes: 8; Lynden: 5.
This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Anacortes hands Lynden first loss."