BELLINGHAM – A size and length advantage helped lead the way to a 63-50 victory for the Red Raiders over Mount Baker in a boys basketball game at Bellingham High School on Friday night.
6-foot-4 senior Drew McFall had a fantastic overall game and led Bellingham with 20 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, while 6-foot-5 seniors Luke Visser (10 points and nine rebounds) and Rand Bentley (six points and eight rebounds) were active in the paint with numerous offensive put backs.
“Everything hinges on Drew,” Red Raider coach Brad McKay said. “Defensively, he plays pretty well, and usually has a tough mark. And offensively, he understands where the open spot is against a zone so he can take the pressure off of our guards.”
The Mountaineers played with heavy hearts as they had just recently learned about the tragic loss of their classmate, Noah Rathjen, who died of an apparent suicide on Thursday. Many of the Mount Baker basketball players were teammates of his during football season.
The game was tight throughout the first three quarters, with Bellingham usually holding a small lead. Baker used strong defensive pressure (18 total steals) to go on a few runs, and gained the advantage a couple of times, but the Red Raiders were quick to strike back and regain the lead.
“I think we executed well and got good shots,” said McKay. “We just weren’t making those shots, and that may have made our defensive energy a little weird. Give it to Mount Baker, they really made it hard on us tonight.”
Bellingham broke away in the fourth quarter behind Visser’s strong inside game and the foul shooting of senior Kobey Georgen, and juniors Colm Schaefer and Connor McKay.
Mountaineer senior David Vetkov paced his club with 11 points, while fellow senior Carter Backstrom had a great overall performance with five steals, four rebounds and four assists.
Bellingham (6-9) will travel to Burlington-Edison (11-3) on Tuesday to take on the Tigers, and Mount Baker (4-10) will host Ferndale (8-6) on Monday night.
Bellingham 63, Mount Baker 50
MB 10 16 13 11 — 50
BELL 12 15 16 20 — 63
MB: Jacoby 5, Vetkov 11, M. Kentner 8, Hart 8, Bass 3, Anderson 0, W. Kentner 6, Backstrom 2, Rosenburg 0, Lee 3, Smith 4.
BELL: Schaefer 6, Georgen 12, McFall 20, Ferrier 5, McKay 2, Triplett 0, Chamberlin 2, Bentley 6, Visser 10.
3-Pointers: MB 5 (Hart 2, Jacoby, Vetkov, Lee); BELL 2 (Georgen, Ferrier). Rebounds: MB 13 (Backstrom 4); BELL 46 (McFall 13). Assists: MB 12 (Backstrom 4); BELL 12 (McFall 4). Steals: MB 18 (Backstrom 5); BELL 12 (Georgen 4). Blocks: MB 8 (W. Kentner 3); BELL 3 (Visser 2)
