Five Whatcom County teams are playing in the state tournament semifinals on the radio today.

 

The Lynden boys survived a scare last night to advance in their hunt for a third straight state title.

The top-seeded Lions beat 10th-seeded Sammamish 58-41 after trailing 8-7 in the first quarter.

Junior forward Brant Heppner led the team with 25 points in the win.

Star senior Anthony Canales struggled, shooting 5-20 from the field, but still managed 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lions move on to face 11th-seeded Bremerton tonight in the semifinals.

Bremerton is coming off upset wins over 4th-seeded Renton and 6th-seeded Mark Morris, who Lynden beat in last year’s 2A title game. 

Coverage begins at 7:00 and tipoff is at 7:15 on KGMI.

 

The 2nd-seeded Lynden girls beat 8th-seeded Columbia River 50-34 in yesterday’s quarterfinals game.

Sophomore Payton Mills led the team with 15 points and freshman Finley Parcher added 13.

The Lions shot just 1-18 from 3-point range but their defense showed up to secure the win.

They now advance to face 5th-seeded Clarkston in the semifinals tonight.

Coverage begins at 5:15 and tipoff is at 5:30 on KPUG with Jim Bring and Dan Kaemingk on the call.

 

The 2nd-seeded Lynden Christian boys beat 9th-seeded King’s 61-32.

Senior Jeremiah Wright led the team with 18 points.

The Lyncs advance to face 3rd-seeded Annie Wright in the semifinals tonight.

Coverage begins at 5:15 and tipoff is at 5:30 on KGMI with Randy Farmer and Rick Todd on the call.

 

The 3rd-seeded Lynden Christian girls topped 4th-seeded King’s 63-50.

The Lyncs haven’t placed lower than fourth place at state in nearly 20 years per WhatcomPreps and helped keep that streak alive last night.

Junior Grace Hintz led the team with 16 points and Allison Shumate added 14 in the win.

The Lyncs move on to face 2nd-seeded Deer Park in the semifinals tonight.

Coverage begins at 8:45 and tipoff is at 9:00 on KPUG.

 

And the top-seeded Nooksack Valley girls continued their run towards repeating as state champs in dominating fashion last night.

The Pioneers made quick work of 10th-seeded Seattle Academy 60-22 in a game where they allowed only a single field goal in the second half.

Star senior Devin Coppinger nearly matched Seattle Academy’s team total with 21 points herself.

Nooksack moves on to face 5th-seeded Wapato tonight, setting the stage for a potential final against Lynden Christian in a rematch of last year’s 1A state championship.

Coverage for tonight’s semifinal game begins at 7:00 and tipoff is at 7:15 on KPUG.

 

Meanwhile, the top-seeded Lummi Nation boys beat 6th-seeded Cusick 54-33 in the 1B consolation bracket this morning.

The Blackhawks just had their 22-game win streak ended by Mossyrock yesterday to bounce them from title contention.

They’ll face 3rd-seeded Moses Lake Christian tomorrow morning at 8:00 in the 4th-place game.

 

The Seattle Kraken beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-0 last night in Philipp Grubauer’s first shutout of the season.

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the opening goal midway into the first period and Alex Wennberg scored in the third to secure the win.

The Kraken snapped the Penguin’s three-game win streak while winning their third in four games.

They’ve also gotten points in six of their last seven as the postseason race heats up in the West.

The Kraken are currently seven points behind the final spot in the playoffs.

Seattle will host Edmonton tomorrow night to close out their six game homestand.

 

The Western Washington University men’s team are fighting to extend their season tomorrow.

They’re playing at Simon Frasier in a must-win game to cap off their regular season.

The 16-12 Vikings are currently trailing Seattle Pacific and Alaska Anchorage by a single game for a spot in the six-team GNAC tournament next week.

Junior Kai Johnson will look to put a stamp on his case for GNAC Player of the Year.

He leads the conference and ranks 11th in NCAA II with 21.8 points per game.

Tomorrow’s game tips off at 7:30 p.m.

 

And the Viking women will look to get momentum heading into next week’s GNAC tournament.

They’re also playing at Simon Frasier tomorrow in their final regular season game.

The team has already secured a first-round bye in the conference playoffs as the defending tournament champs.

Tomorrow’s game tips off at 5:15 p.m. in Burnaby, B.C.