WIAA State Championships Yakima SunDome: Lynden doubles up in 2A, Nooksack Valley and Zillah 1A Trophies

3/3/2024

The 2a and 1a State basketball Championship were in their usual spot this past week at the Yakima SunDome. The Lynden Lions are no strangers to the SunDome as the boys were seeking their 3rd straight Championship and the girls were trying to halt #1 seed Ellensburg’s 75 game winning streak. The lady Lions did exactly that with a 43-40 win adding their 3rd State girls Championship in school history. Even though they were the 2 seed all the experts had the #1 seeded Bulldogs to get their 76th win and another Championship but the Lions came up big.

The Lynden boys were out to get their 3rd straight Championship and 5th in the last 6 years with only a 3rd place finish in 2020 interupting the streak. The Lions were almost in the consolation 3rd place game when 11 seeded Bremerton fell short to upsetting the top seed in the semi-finals by 1 point. The Lions re3-focused and made sure there was no doubt in the Title game with a huge 85-54 win over Grandview.

In the 1a tournaments the Zillah Leopards came in as the #1 seed and worked hard to get their 3rd Title in school history. The Leopards held off the 7 seed Seton Catholic in the quarterfinals by 2 points and used that same formula to claim the Championship with a 2 point win over #3 Annie Wright.

In the nightcap the Nooksack Valley Pioneers got their 1st State Championship last year and now have doubled up. The Pioneers had literally won all the other trophies in girls basketball 2nd thru 8th place and were needing only the Championship to claim them all when they accomplished this last year. They too had to work for their Championship winning by 3 over Deer Park with 8 ties in the game and 7 lead changes so this game was in doubt until the final buzzer. The win gives them 2 in a row and cements their place in girls basketball history.