Lynden halts West Valley

YAKIMA – West Valley’s dream of a shot at another state championship slammed headlong into a talented, veteran Lynden team at the SunDome and ended Friday night, 45-35, in the semifinals of the State 2A girls basketball tournament.

The loss drops West Valley (20-6) into the game for third and sixth places against the Prosser Mustangs at 3:30 p.m.

The Lions ran their SunDome record to 4-0 this season, outrebounding the Eagles by 10 (43-33), scoring 12 points off turnovers and hitting 16 more free throws than the Eagles.

“Obviously, the big thing was rebounding,” Eagles coach Lorin Carlon said. “They got a lot of second and third shots.”

The game was tight most of the way – Lynden led by just five points with 2:25 remaining, but Lynden made seven free throws in the final 1:11.

The Lions were able to neutralize Hannah Love, one half of West Valley’s dynamic duo. Love had just five points on 1-of-11 shooting from the floor. Shanique Nilles, the Eagles’ leading scorer, had 14 points and eight rebounds, but only three other West Valley players scored.

Carlon noted that the Lions’ defense contributed to the Eagles’ woes.

“When they came out in that 1-3-1, we couldn’t get anyone into the corner,” Carlon said. “They played us real physical.”

He also noted the Lynden’s near-surgical dissection of his defense gave the Lions plenty of easy opportunities.

“They sliced our zone up,” he said. “In a game that is that close, you only need one or two chances like that.”

Pullman 55, Bellingham 40: Sophomore Jordan Levenseller scored 19 points and the Greyhounds dashed to a 19-7 first-period lead and never trailed, advancing in the consolation bracket.

Levenseller recorded her third consecutive double-figure scoring effort.

Pullman (22-4) will play Othello in the game for fifth and eighth places this morning at 8:30.

The Greyhounds’ defense held the Red Raiders to 21 percent shooting from the floor (6 of 29) and the free-throw line (2 of 10) in the opening half. At the same time, Pullman shot 47 percent from the floor (10 of 21) and 71 percent from the line (5 of 7).

Shelby Cheslek came up big in the post again for Pullman. The 6-foot-4 sophomore had 14 points and 19 rebounds, her second straight double-double and her third straight game with double-digit rebounds.

Devin Pearsall scored 16 points and had seven rebounds to lead Bellingham.