SportsSection B lyndentribune.com•Wednesday,March9,2016

Sports Briefs•B5

Legal Notices•B6

Classifieds•B7

FOUR LOCAL TEAMS BRING HOME TROPHIESTheLyndenChristiangirls(1Astatechampions),Lyndengirls(2Arunner-up),Lyndenboys(2Athirdplace)andNooksackValleygirls(1Afifthplace)

basketballteamseachearnedtrophieswithtop-sixfinishesattheHardwoodClassiconMarch3-5intheYakimaValleySunDome.

LC GIRLS- STATE CHAMPIONS -

STATE QUARTERFINALLC 51, Cashmere 40

STATE SEMIFINALLC 53, Granger 30

STATE TITLE GAMELC 43, King’s 38

LYNDEN GIRLS- SECOND PLACE -

STATE QUARTERFINALLynden 59, Black Hills 44

STATE SEMIFINALLynden 37, Ellensburg 34

STATE TITLE GAMEShorecrest 49, Lynden 43

LYNDEN BOYS- THIRD PLACE -

STATE QUARTERFINALLynden 55, Wapato 46

STATE SEMIFINALClarkston 58, Lynden 44

STATE 3RD/5TH PLACELynden 54, Tumwater 52

NOOKSACK GIRLS- FIFTH PLACE -

STATE QUARTERFINALNooksack Valley 51, Zillah 42

STATE SEMIFINALKing’s 50, Nooksack Valley 37

STATE 3RD/5TH PLACEGranger 56, Nooksack Valley 46

PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL

LYNCS WIN STATE TITLE

LC players celebrate in the moments following their 43-38 win over King’s in the 1A state title game on Saturday in the Yakima Valley SunDome.(CameronVanTil/LyndenTribune)

Dykstra, Bajema lead fourth-quarter comeback as Lynden Christian rallies past King’s for state championshipBy Cameron Van Tilsports@lyndentribune.com

YAKIMA — There were plenty of moments where Lynden Christian could have succumbed to adversity. Plenty of times when the Lyncs could have caved. But LC simply refused to back down.

The Lyncs fought off numerous attempts by King’s to pull away, battling through a rough first half offensively to remain within striking distance. And just when it seemed the Knights were in the midst of one final push toward their second consecutive state title, soph-omore point guard Avery Dykstra and senior post Kara Bajema orchestrated a dramatic LC comeback. The duo combined for the Lyncs’ final 13 points as LC ral-lied from an eight-point deficit late in the third quarter to win the 1A state championship with a 43-38 victory over King’s on Saturday in the Yakima Valley SunDome. “I’m just so happy for these girls,” second-year Lyncs head coach Brady Bomber said. “They’ve put so much time in. And

that was such a good King’s team. We took their best shot. “We had plenty of moments where we could have folded, and girls made plays in crucial moments. That’s what you need if you’re going to have a chance to win these big games.” Bajema scored six of her team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots. Dykstra made several pivotal baskets down the stretch, scoring nine of her 13 points in the game’s final nine minutes, and made three steals. Sophomore post Sam Van Loo added eight points and eight rebounds for LC (25-2), and senior guard Haley Hollander pro-

SeeLyncsonB2

PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL

Lions earn hard-fought semifinal win over Ellensburg, but fall to Shorecrest in title gameBy Cameron Van Tilsports@lyndentribune.com

YAKIMA — Lynden junior guard Jasmyne Neria was in such pain that she had to be car-ried off the court after suffering a knee injury midway through the second half of the Lions’ state semifinal contest on Friday. Yet on her way back to the bench, Neria was already trying to convince the medical

trainer that she would be okay to re-enter the game. And after being cleared to do so, Neria re-turned in the second half to help Lynden hold off Ellensburg for a 37-34 win in the Yakima Valley SunDome that advanced the Lions to the 2A state title game for the first time since 2009. Neria intercepted a pass in the closing sec-onds to seal the victory and finished with six points, seven rebounds and three steals. “It speaks volumes to how tough of a kid she is,” Lynden head coach Rob Adams said. “She’s our glue girl — she’s the glue that keeps us together. “And being the person that’s the glue, she

Lynden girls advance to state championship game

Senior star hits game-winning 3, finishes as second-leading career scorer in program historyBy Cameron Van Tilsports@lyndentribune.com

YAKIMA — Lynden’s state title hopes had come to an end with a semifinal loss to even-tual champion Clarkston the night before, but Sterling Somers capped his legendary career with the Lions in memorable fashion nonethe-less. The 6-5 Lynden senior and Seattle Pacific

commit swished a 3-pointer with seven sec-onds remaining as Lynden rallied from a four-point deficit in the final minute to capture the 2A state third-place trophy with a 54-52 win over Tumwater on Saturday in the Yakima Val-ley SunDome. It was the Lions’ fourth top-three trophy in the last five seasons. “Our goal is to win a state championship,” Somers said. “But this is probably the next best thing — going out on a win senior year. “I’m so proud of seniors Jordan (Witten-berg) and Noah (King). To go out on a win our last time playing together feels good. I’m going to miss everyone.” Somers finished his final high school game

Somers carries Lynden boys to third-place finish

PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

SeeLynden girlsonB3 SeeLynden boysonB3

B2 • Wednesday, March 9, 2016 • lyndentribune.com

vided five points and seven rebounds. “We knew it was going to take 32 minutes,” Bomber said. “We knew there were going to be storms that came, and we just told them, ‘We’ve got to make a decision to fight.’ “That’s been our motto the whole year — to bring your own guts, bring your own heart, bring your own en-ergy and stay the course.” The Lyncs did just that — even when the path was most turbulent. LC suffered a lengthy first-half scoring drought, going nearly six minutes without a point and almost eight minutes without a field goal. The Lyncs committed seven turnovers during the stretch and 12 in the first half. King’s (21-6) took advantage and built a 14-8 lead. Yet in spite of the first-half strug-gles, LC headed into halftime trailing just 19-17. A championship-caliber defensive performance was the rea-son why. LC limited King’s to 13-of-53 (24.5 percent) shooting for the game and held the Knights 15 points below their season scoring average. And King’s second-leading scorer, Anna Parker, managed just two points all night, thanks in large part to Lyncs senior Shaye Brandsma’s lockdown defense. “Our defense gave us a chance until our offense came around,” Bomber said. “When you’re playing such a good shooting team like King’s, you have to try to contest everything and rebound.” Roughly two minutes into the third quarter, Bajema picked off a King’s pass in the backcourt and fin-ished with a lay-in to tie the game at 19 apiece. But King’s senior guard Daylee Hanson, a University of Idaho com-mit, hit a deep 3-pointer to begin a string of six straight points that gave the Knights a 25-19 advantage mid-way through the third quarter. Hanson finished with 22 points and three 3s. King’s pushed its advantage to 32-24 with less than a minute left in the third, but Dykstra drove to the rim for a lay-in and Van Loo made a basket to cut the margin to 32-28 by the end of the period. Early in the fourth, Dykstra came up with a steal that ultimately led to a short jumper by Bajema that trimmed the deficit to 34-32. Soon after, Dyks-tra gave LC a 35-34 edge — its first lead since the game’s opening minutes — on a 3-pointer with 5:32 remaining. “Our girls in the second half were much more physical and assertive,” Bomber said. “We just talked about having a mindset of, ‘We’re going to go take our best shot and not be pas-sive.’” After King’s regained a one-point edge, Dykstra sped by a Knights de-fender for a lay-up to put the Lyncs back in front. Bajema then hit a run-ner to push LC’s lead to 39-36 with 3:46 left. King’s responded with a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game with 1:23 remaining, and had the Lyncs on the ropes with the shot clock ticking down on LC’s ensuing possession. Enter: Dykstra. The sophomore received a pass from Bajema and, with a veteran’s poise, calmly drilled a huge 17-foot jumper to stretch the Lyncs’ lead to 41-38 with 50 seconds left. “She’s just getting better and bet-

ter every time she touches the floor,” Bomber said. “She stepped up and made big shot after big shot. “She’s put in so much time into her game, and so at that moment, all that hard work gave her confidence. I’m just so happy for her that it’s paid off.” LC then came up with a defensive stop on the other end, and Bajema followed by sinking a pair of one-and-one free throws to help seal the pro-gram’s 11th state championship. “We just refused to lose,” Dykstra said. “We were playing for each other. We all wanted to win for each other.”

LC fends off Cashmere in quarters The Lyncs began their title run with a 51-40 state quarterfinal win over Cashmere on Thursday, March 3. Bajema led LC with 16 points — including 12 in the second half — and eight rebounds. Senior guard Haley Hollander added 14 points and seven rebounds, while helping limit Cash-mere leading scorer Abbie Johnson to 12 points. “(Haley’s) a warrior,” Bomber said, “to guard someone like that and score 14 points. We didn’t really know what we were going to get offensively from her tonight, because we were going to ask so much from her on the defensive side of the ball. I’m just so proud of her.” Dykstra finished with eight points and gave the Lyncs strong point-guard play, while sophomore post Riley Van Hulzen came off the bench and took three charges. And like the state title game, LC had to wade through adversity, fend-ing off multiple second-half rallies by Cashmere. The Lyncs held a comfortable 11-point lead late in the third quarter, but Cashmere hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 12 seconds of the period to quickly slice the deficit to 37-32. LC, however, didn’t panic. The Lyncs responded with baskets by Sam Van Loo and Avery Dykstra to push their lead to nine points early in the fourth quarter. Cashmere refused to cave in, scoring six straight points to cut the margin to 41-38 with 3:55 remaining. Yet once again, LC had an answer. Hollander drove to the hoop for a pair of baskets that bumped LC’s lead to 45-38, and Bajema later scored on a putback lay-in that made it 47-40 with 1:12 left and helped seal the victory.

D shines in dominant semifinal win The Lyncs followed up their quar-terfinal win with a stellar defensive showing in a 53-30 semifinal victory over eventual third-place finisher Granger on Friday. LC held the Spartans without a field goal for nearly 15 minutes in the first half, during which the Lyncs compiled a 22-1 run to build a 23-4 lead. Granger never got closer than 13 points the rest of the game. LC limited the Spartans to just 10-of-47 (21.3 percent) shooting and held Granger to more than 22 points below their season scoring average. “They have a lot of quick guards that are good shooters,” Bomber said. “So when we met for film and shoot-around that afternoon, we talked with the girls about how we were going to have to change the way we play defen-sively to make sure that we were pre-pared to not give up 3s. “And the girls did a great job of

making some adjustments. I’m just so happy for them to be able to execute a defensive game plan on that high of a level.” On the offensive end, LC took full advantage of an enormous height dif-ferential. Bajema and Van Loo domi-nated inside, helping the Lyncs finish an efficient 24-of-51 (47.1 percent) from the field and with a 49-18 re-bounding advantage. Bajema scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the first half, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals. Van Loo added 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and had seven rebounds. Dykstra added nine points, six re-bounds and four assists. Van Hulzen hauled in a team-high eight rebounds, while Hollander and Brandsma pro-vided seven boards apiece.

A season’s worth of feats LC’s state title win caps a might-ily impressive year for the Lyncs, who split the Northwest Conference title with 2A state runner-up Lynden. The Lyncs won by an average margin of 18.4 points per game — and yielded just 38.6 points per contest — while facing a challenging schedule. LC beat 4A state qualifier Kent-lake, 2A regional qualifier White River and twice defeated 2A state quali-fier Anacortes. The Lyncs’ only losses came to 4A state runner-up Snohom-ish and Lynden.

Bomber joins rarified company Bomber, who won a state cham-pionship as a player for Lynden in 2007, is the third person to have won a state title at Lynden or LC as both as a player and a head coach. And Bomber is the only one of the three to have done so with both schools. Roger DeBoer won a state title at LC as a player in 1982 and as a head coach in 2012. John Clark won state titles at Lynden as a player in 1961 and 1962 and as a head coach in 1991 and

1992. “Coach Bomber is great,” Dykstra said. “He cares about all of us. He puts as much work as we do into it, prepar-ing tape for us to watch and working with us in the gym. He really helps us all out.”

Seniors go out on top Winning the state title was a sto-rybook ending for LC’s three seniors — Bajema, Hollander and Brandsma. The trio will leave the program as two-time state champions, having also won the 2014 title. Bajema also won two state volley-ball titles. And she was named Most Valuable Player in all four tourna-ments. “It means so much,” Bajema said of Saturday’s win. “Being able to end our basketball career on a win feels great.” Without a doubt, the three Lyncs will be missed. “This year’s seniors had a lot of

success,” Bomber said. “They leave a legacy of competitiveness, appreciat-ing the game and being about others. We’re very thankful for the opportu-nity we had with them.”

2015-16 Lyncs 3 - Torina Hommes10 - Isabela Hernandez12 - Haley Hollander14 - Shaye Brandsma15 - Kara Bajema25 - Sam Van Loo30 - Riley Van Hulzen32 - Avery Dykstra34 - Josie Bocci43 - Ellie Vander Veen44 - Emmalee Bailey45 - Kiya Levien

Lyncs: Battled through ample adversity in state title game Continued from B1

Sophomore point guard Avery Dykstra scored seven of her 13 points in the fourth quarter to help lead Lynden Christian’s fourth-quarter comeback in the state title game. (Cameron Van Til/Lynden Tribune)

LC’s bench celebrates during the Lyncs’ dramatic fourth-quarter comeback. (Cameron Van Til/Lynden Tribune)

Senior guard Haley Hollander provided seven points and five rebounds. (Cameron Van Til/Lynden Tribune)

LC players celebrate winning the title. (Cameron Van Til/Lynden Tribune)

Second-year LC head coach Brady Bomber cuts down the net following the Lyncs’ state title game win. (Cameron Van Til/Lynden Tribune)

Kara Bajema scored six of her team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter to help lead the Lyncs’ comeback. (Cameron Van Til/Lynden Tribune)