Day One: Lynden girls suffer early exit

Lynden commits 18 turnovers in upset loss to Othello

Nathan Schumock

Sports Editor

YAKIMA — e Lynden e Lions nished the season with a 20-6 record but did not have the repower down the stretch to close out wins. Lynden fell to White River last week in regionals which put them in the di cult position of having to play in the round of 12.

Lions girl's season came to a close following a 3331 loss to No. 10 Othello to open up state play in Yakima, on Wednesday, March 1.

Lynden’s Achilles heel was their turnover problems. ey committed 18 turnovers which led to 11 points for Othello. Lynden outplayed Othello in almost every aspect of the game except for the turnover battle.

“We had too many turnovers to really say we deserved to win,” Lynden head coach Vic Wol s said. “Some of them were unforced, some of them were panicky turnovers and some were really good stu the Huskies did.” e Huskies had an 8-7 lead going into the second quarter. e second quarter was the highest o ensive production the Lions saw. ey scored 13 total points but still trailed by 22-20 heading into halftime. Following halftime, the game turned into a slog as both teams had trouble formulating o ense. e Lions scored one point in the rst six minutes of the third quarter.

Lynden only scored 11 points in the nal two quarters combined and could not get into a ow on o ense. eir defense kept them in it all night, as they only allowed 11 points in the nal two quarters. Wol s said they played well enough on defense to win the game, but they could not make a big enough impact on the offensive side of the ball.

Othello forward Annalee Coronado scored a game-high 15 points and stu ed the stat sheet with ve rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks. Despite shooting 5-27 from the eld, she was the impact player of the game.

Othello will play undefeated Ellensburg in the quarter nals for their next game and Lynden will head home.

Lynden came out ring and jumped to a 7-1 lead propelled by juniors Mallary Villars, Haylee Koetje and Kalanie Newcomb. Othello closed the gap quickly and went on a 7-0 run to end the rst.

On the night, Koetje played a well-rounded game with six points and 13 rebounds. Villars and Newcomb both nished with seven points.

Lynden freshman Payton Mills was quiet until the tail end of the third quarter. Mills scored the nal ve Lynden buckets of the game and was their leading scorer with 10 points. She was the only Lynden player who had success at the end of the game. No one else could make the shots fall. e score was stuck at 31-29 for three of the nal four minutes in the game.

Lynden had opportunities to tie or take the lead, but the shots were not going down. With under a minute left, the Lions resorted to fouling, but Othello was steady from the line and shut the door on Lynden’s season.

Despite the early state exit, it was a stellar season for the Lions and they have a bright future ahead. ey will only lose three seniors going into next year, otherwise, the team will be fully reloaded and set up for a successful 2023-24.

Wol s said he is proud of his girls and how they performed and prepared for the game.

“We gotta good future coming,” Wol s said.