YAKIMA – The outside shot was falling early and often for Lynden Christian as it defeated Seattle Christian 84-56 in the quarterfinal round of the 1A state tournament.
Burly junior forward Kaden Veldman, who leads the county in blocked shots and is a double-double machine, showed that he’s not just added muscle in the paint that looks to play football on Saturdays in a few years. He also showed his shooting stroke from the outside as he made all three of his three-point attempts in the first half, which helped the Lyncs go on an early 18-2 run before going into the midway break with a 41-24 lead.
He was aided by slick-shooting lefty junior guard Gunnar Dykstra who scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in the first half.
Dykstra splashed home six of his nine 3-point attempts for the Lyncs who made 11 of 23 as a team.
The Warriors came out strong in the second half, and began with a 14-4 run, which brought the game to within a few possessions. Lynden Christian still managed to outscore its counterpart 21-14 in the quarter after finishing with a 17-0 run, which ended with a buzzer-beater from junior guard Harvest Howell.
Veldman added another double-double to his ledger with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and junior guard Dawson Hintz had nine points, eight rebounds and three assists.
The Lyncs (24-1) move on to the semifinals for the sixth straight tournament and will face King’s (19-6) tomorrow at 5:30 for a chance to get to the state championship game.
Lynden Christian 84, Seattle Christian 56 SC 13 11 14 18 - 56 LC 14 27 21 22 - 84
Seattle Christian: N/A. Lynden Christian: Hintz 9, Dykstra 27, Howell 4, Maberry 2, Kamphouse 0, Ridnour 5, VanKooten 0, Robertson 8, Kooiman 3, Veldman 21, Herwerden 5, Vos 0.
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