BELLINGHAM – The Lynden Christian boys basketball team showed exactly why it is the top ranked team in the Class 1A ranks by defeating Squalicum 76-39 on Thursday night at Squalicum High School.
Lyncs senior Christian Colwell established a presence inside early on, scoring six of his teams’ first 10 points. The third strong layup by the 6-foot-9 post player caused the Storm to call a timeout early in the contest, after being down 10-2. Squalicum finished the quarter strong with a Dedrick Mitchell jump shot just before the buzzer, and started the second quarter stronger when Devante Powell hit the opening shot and Lincoln Hofer followed with a three pointer.
The Storm’s fast start to the second stanza brought the LC lead to just a point, 16-15. Moments later, a costly third foul on Squalicum forward Spencer Lloyd sent the athletic senior to the bench early, and the Lyncs began to pour it on. 6-foot-8 senior guard Cole Bajema did most of the pouring, scoring 13 of his 26 points in the second quarter alone.
The big win came off a close contested game against Bellingham on Tuesday night that forced the LC coaching staff to make a few changes.
“We felt like we made some very good adjustments as a team to player the style that we need to play to be more effective down the stretch,” Lynden Christian coach Roger DeBoer said. “A little less trapping and pressing, and a little more matching up with people. I thought that was a lot more effective against a team that is as athletic as Squalicum.”
The Lyncs’ length on the perimeter, size down low and overall positioning on defense made driving extremely tough all game for the undersized Storm. As a result, many three pointers were attempted in the second half, especially while trying to come back. Lynden Christian outscored Squalicum 36-15 in the second half.
“Everything started with Colwell tonight,” DeBoer said in praising his big man. “He was an absolute grown man tonight. He controlled both ends of the court, established himself offensively early and he was a huge presence in the paint defensively.”
Colwell finished with 13 points, while sophomore Jaden DeBoer had 11 for the Lyncs and senior Luke Bos chipped in with 10.
Squalicum got 11 points each from Powell and 6-foot-6 sophomore Leland Zender.
Lynden Christian (14-0) will try to continue its winning ways at Sehome (9-4) on Tuesday night, and the Storm (3-10) will travel to Lynden (14-0) to take on the Lions on Tuesday night.
Lynden Christian 76, Squalicum 39
LC 16 24 18 18 — 76
SQU 10 14 12 3 — 39
LC: Bouwman 0, DeBoer 11, Sipma 2, Langstraat 6, DeVries 6, Dykstra 2, Bajema 26, Libolt 0, Bos 10, Colwell 13.
SQU: Cash 3, Zender 11, Lloyd 0, Murphy-Kangas 0, Aslan 0, Martin 0, Mitchell 8, Powell 11, Richardson 3, Hofer 3, Gimse 0, Bell 0.
3-Pointers: LC 10 (DeBoer 3, Bajema 3, Bos 2, DeVries 2); SQU 4 (Cash, Powell, Richardson, Hofer).
