Lynden girls looking to power past Liberty in 2A regional
Lynden vs. Liberty
6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, at Renton High School
Lynden Lions (20-3)
Enrollment: 592.0
League: Northwest Conference (tied for first)
District: Northwest (second)
State appearances: 12 (20-20)
State titles: 1 (2009)
Coach: Rob Adams
Leading scorers
Player | Pos. | Yr. | Ht. | PPG |
Elisa Kooiman | G | Jr. | 5-11 | 17.9 |
Jasmyne Neira | G | Jr. | 5-7 | 7.7 |
Sierra Smith | G | So. | 5-4 | 7.4 |
Mariah Gonzalez | F | Jr. | 5-9 | 5.1 |
Natalie Amos | G | So. | 5-7 | 4.6 |
Scouting the Lions: Lynden stumbled on its way to a third straight district title, falling 51-41 to Anacortes in the district championship game. Anacortes owns two of third-ranked Lynden’s three losses this year. The other went to Ferndale.
Key to the game: Minimize turnovers. No. 3 Lynden dug itself a hole in the district title game, failing to put up more then seven field goal attempts in each of the first three quarters against Anacortes.
Player to watch: Kooiman has scored in double figures in every game but two this year, but Lynden must find ways to get her some help.
Liberty Patriots (10-14)
Enrollment: 891.8
League: KingCo 2A/3A (fifth)
District: West Central/SeaKing (third)
State appearances: 4 (3-8)
State titles: None
Coach: Carly Fromdahl
Leading scorers
Player | Pos. | Yr. | Ht. | PPG |
Samantha Kelderman | G/PF | Jr. | 5-10 | *15.6 |
Sydney Argosino | SG | So. | 5-9 | *6.9 |
Presley Sweeney | PG | So. | 5-5 | *4.1 |
Alissa Campbell | G/PF | Sr. | 6-0 | *3.4 |
Savannah Metzger | SG | Sr. | 5-9 | *2.6 |
*Full season statistics not available
Scouting the Patriots: Liberty won three straight games to advance to the bi-district semifinals before losing 71-53 to White River. The Patriots rebounded to beat Port Angeles 39-33.
Key to the game: Keep it close. The Patriots dug themselves a 26-5 first-quarter hole against White River in the bi-district semifinals. They can’t afford more of that against Lynden, or they’ll find themselves at home next weekend.
Player to watch: Kelderman is the only Patriot averaging in double figures this season, so they need a big game out of her.
Herald prediction
Kooiman and Lynden simply have too much for Liberty and should find themselves back in Yakima for a third straight year.
LYNDEN 56-42
This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Lynden girls looking to power past Liberty in 2A regional."