BY BLAKE WITMAN
LYNDEN – Lynden High School Athletic Director Mike McKee said it perfectly right before the game started. On a night where a community came together to fight against cancer, to celebrate the induction of the late Curt Kramme into the Lynden High School athletic hall of fame, and to watch two undefeated basketball teams square off, McKee said in front of over 3,200 people, “This is an event that can only happen in Lynden.”
With a crowd that started to show up at 3pm, and had “The Jake” packed to the maximum before the JV game even tipped off, the Lynden Christian Lyncs (17-0 and ranked #1 in 1A) and the Lynden Lions (17-0 and ranked #1 in 2A) took to the floor to finally end the discussion. Not who is the best basketball team in the state, but on this night, who is the best basketball team in the town of Lynden. What unfolded next was worth being packed into the gym like sardines.
Cole Langstraat started the scoring with a drive from the left side, that would give the Lyncs an early lead, and one that would never be given back. Within the first four minutes of the game, the Lyncs hot shooting was on display, opening up an 11-2 lead, while the Lions struggled to even find the rim. The Lyncs buried three deep balls in the first quarter, meanwhile the Lions went only 3-of-9 from the foul line. A couple of late buckets from Lynden’s James Marsh and Clayton Whitman closed out the opening quarter with the Lyncs leading 13-9.
With Lynden Christian’s 2-3 zone making things difficult for the Lions to get to the rim, their scoring was forced to come from the outside. In the second quarter, Lynden’s Christian Zamora scored six of his eight points from beyond the outer arc, with Kobe Elsner adding another triple. This was also the quarter, the masses began to see the true ability of Lynden Christian’s Cole Bajema. Whether it be his soft touch over top of Lion defenders in the lane, or his smooth stroke from the outside, Bajema scored 10 of the Lyncs’ 13 points in the second quarter, to help the LC into the break with a 26-24 lead.
It was the third quarter that this one got special. Lynden Christian began the second half with 12-0 run, led by LC’s Luke Bos’s second deep ball of the night, and Bajema’s ability to create plays off the dribble. Lynden Christian began to take advantage of the Lion’s stiff man to man defense, and it appeared as if the Lyncs might run away with things.
It was at the 4:03 mark of the 3rd quarter that it was as if Lynden’s Clayton Whitman said “enough is enough” as he drove the right side, throwing down a thunderous one handed slam overtop of Bajema, causing the entire gym to erupt. For the rest of the quarter, it was a battle of the top two players in the Northwest Conference. Whitman would hit a deep ball, Bajmea would then drain one over top of him on the other end. Bajema would slide to the rim netting one inside, Whitman would then answer with finesse moves on the other. The two combined for 24 points in the 3rd quarter alone, making Lion, Lync, and any other fans in attendance just look at each other with a smile and a shake of the head. At the end of three, the Lyncs had built their lead up to seven at 47-40.
In the final quarter, it was again the LC deep ball that proved too much for the top ranked Lions. Bajema hit three more, Bos added two, and Andrew Devries added another to slowly pull the Lyncs away from the Lions. With the Lions unable to get anything going inside, it began to feel as if every shot they put up had to go down if there was any hope of staying with the hot shooting Lyncs, and on this night, that was not to be. The Lyncs went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch, continuing to extend their lead for a final score of 75-57.
In total, the Lyncs drained 13 three point shots on the night, while the Lions answered with 10. Zamora led Lynden with 21 points and was backed by the 19 of Whitman, but it was LC’s Bajema who stole the show, as he finished the night with a game high 32 points, followed by Luke Bos’ 17.
The Lyncs will look to finish out the regular season perfect next week as they host Meridian and finish off at Lakewood, while the Lions will look to bounce back at Blaine and then host Ferndale.
Scoring: LYN – Zamora 21, Whitman 19, Silves 6, Marsh 4, Elsner 3, Bode 2, Heppner 1
Scoring: LC – Bajema 32, Bos 17, DeVries 8, Bouwman 7, Langstraat 6, Sipma 3
