BELLINGHAM – A balanced attack, along with strong rebounding, led the way for the Lions in a 65-49 victory over the Storm at Squalicum High School on Tuesday night.
A fast-paced first quarter went back and forth, with Lynden getting six players on the scoreboard, while the Storm was led early by 6-foot-7 junior forward Leland Zender. He scored seven of his eight points in the first quarter.
The outside shooting of Clay Kochuten and the inside-play of Liam Hanenburg helped the Lions begin the second quarter with a 15-0 run. Lynden kept a double-digit lead the rest of the game. Kochuten finished with 13 points, including a game-high three 3-pointers, and Hanenburg led his team with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Squalicum’s senior star point guard Dedrick Mitchell began the game getting his teammates involved, but started to score in bunches after the Lynden run. He scored seven of his team’s nine points in the second quarter, and he tossed in 15 more in the second half to lead all scorers with 22 points.
Lynden sophomore Jordan Medcalf played a great overall game, as he showed his many talents. He ended the game with 12 points, with half of them coming from the foul line. He also led his team in assists (5) and steals (3). Senior forward Brock Heppner also contributed with a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
The match-up inside between Hanenburg and Zender was also very intriguing. Both juniors, Hanenburg at 6-foot-10 was able to get good position for offensive put-backs, and he also showed very good touch from 8-10 feet out. Zender played very well defensively, and totaled a game-high six blocked shots.
Lynden (11-1 overall, 6-0 in the Northwest Conference) will return home to face Nooksack Valley (9-4, 3-3) on Thursday night, while Squalicum (6-8, 3-4) will travel to Sehome (5-8, 2-4) to take on the Mariners on Thursday night. Both games will start at 7:15.
Lynden 65, Squalicum 49
LYN 16 21 11 17 — 65
SQU 14 9 14 12 — 49
LYN: Anderson 1, Whitman 6, Medcalf 12, Heppner 10, Vandenberg 0, Lyons 0, Elsner 0, Jandoc 7, Kochuten 13, Hanenburg 16.
SQU: Cash 2, Zender 8, Bell 0, Richardson 0, Mitchell 22, Powell 4, Schlenbaker 4, Hofer 9.
3-Pointers: LYN 5 (Kochuten 3, Medcalf, Jandoc); SQU 4 (Mitchell 2, Zender, Hofer). Rebounds: LYN 40 (Hanenburg 12, Heppner 10); SQU 21 (Zender 6, Schlenbaker 6). Assists: LYN 10 (Medcalf 5); SQU 10 (Powell 5). Steals: LYN 6 (Medcalf 3); SQU 8 (Mitchell 3). Blocks: LYN 2 (Heppner 1, Kochuten 1); SQU 6 (Zender 6)
