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.
Great article Tyler.
It was fun to watch you do your writing for whatcom prep.
This is not an easy job, I can see plainly .
So enjoy your articles.
Thank you so much! It was great meet you!