BY MAKAYLA SPARKS
MOUNT VERNON -Once again, Lynden Christian find its boys basketball team in the second round of the state tournament. The number one-seeded Lyncs know they will get everyone’s best and Saturday night was no exception. It was a second-half rally that would take LC to a 69-49 victory against the eight-seeded Overlake Owls.
The game started slow for LC as Overlake won the tip-off and scored the first points of the game. It wasn’t until midway through the first quarter that Lyncs junior forward Jeremiah Wright would start the scoring for Lynden Christian. The quarter ended with the score tied at 12.
The Lyncs continued to struggle with the physicality of the Owls throughout the second quarter, but they were starting to finally get their engines going. LC outscored Overlake 17-13 in the second quarter and pulled to a 29-25 lead going into the half.
Coming out of the half, LC looked refreshed and recharged. Their shots start dropping as senior guard duo Tyler Sipma and Griffin Dykstra began proving to be a threat for the Owls. The Lyncs were able to score 18 points to the Owls’ 12 points and took a 47-37 lead going into the final quarter of play.
With eight minutes of playtime left on the clock, the Lyncs put on their best performance of the night, scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter alone. With Overlake keeping close watch of Sipma and Dykstra, the inside started opening for Wright who scored 10 points in the fourth. LC finished the game by dribbling out the final seconds and securing a 69-49 win.
Scoring may have been a challenge for the Lyncs early in the game, but by the end of it, three LC players had put up double-digit points. Sipma scored a team-high 26 points and scored 18 of them from behind the three-point arc. Wright contributed another 18 points, and Dykstra poured in 16 points.
Lynden Christian will head to Yakima on Thursday, March 2 with the goal of completing a back-to-back state title run, something no other LC boys basketball team has accomplished. They will play the winner of the Seattle Academy-Zillah game being played on Wednesday night. The winner of that is set to face Lyncs at 5:30 pm on Thursday.
