YAKIMA – Last year they were the darlings, this year they were the hunted, but the Lions took it all in stride as they outscored Ellensburg in each quarter before taking the 54-37 win for their second straight 2A state championship.
Lynden began with a 9-3 run, with sophomore guard Finley Parcher scoring five of the points. The Bulldogs quickly scored two buckets to make it 9-7, but Lynden answered quickly with two foul shots from Parcher and layup from sophomore guard Lexi Hermanutz.
A 15-foot bank shot by junior forward Payton Mills in the last second of the first quarter have Lynden a 15-10 lead.
Each team had only scored two points over the first three and a half minutes of the second quarter, but a three-pointer from Hermanutz made it 20-12, and a clutch deep ball from junior guard Reese Nyhoff with a minute left in the half made it 24-14.
The third quarter saw Ellensburg trade two for threes, as Hermanutz, senior forward Kiki York and junior forward Jules Slayton each dialed in from long distance, and the Lions began to pull away even more in the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs started missing shots they would normally make, and Lynden wasn’t.
Throughout all the madness, coach Rob Adams looked as cool as a cucumber as he could be seen standing in front of his bench for the majority of the game casually holding a paper water cup.
Parcher finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots, and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Mills also posted a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, and she was named to the All-Tournament’s Second Team.
Lynden finished with a record of 28-0.
Lynden 54, Ellensburg 37
ELL 10 4 15 8 - 37
LYN 15 9 17 13 - 54
Prosser: N/A.
Lynden: Bowler 1, Hermanutz 10, Nyhoff 3, Newcomb 0, Slayton 3, R. Stephan 0, I. Stephan 2, Anderson 0, York 9, Parcher 14, Basart 0, Mills 12.
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