The Vashon Island boys basketball team started out ready to go; Lynden
Christian's Greg Burgers and Kyle Coston needed a little time to warm
up.
Coston and Burgers combined for 20 points in the second half to help the
Lyncs overcome a four-point halftime deficit for a 43-37 victory against
the Pirates on Friday in the SunDome. Lynden Christian advances to meet
King's -- a rematch of the team's district championship game which the
Lyncs won 46-33 -- for the Class 2A state championship at 7 p.m.
Saturday.
Vashon Island didn't make it easy for Lynden Christian (24-2) to reach
the finals. The Pirates came out hot, especially from 3-point range,
going 4 of 13 in first half for a 19-14 lead. Shooting that left the
Lyncs a little worried in the locker room during the break.
"There were some nerves," said Coston, the 6-foot-8 Portland State
recruit who scored a game-high 18 points in the win. "We weren't sure
what to do defensively, but we came out of the zone and matched up well
on their shooters."
The change worked with VI (24-3) hitting only two 3-pointers after
halftime and shooting only 28 percent from the field. Lynden Christian
responded with a 16-5 run in the third quarter -- Burgers scored six of
his 12 points in the frame -- to take a 31-24 into the fourth.
After shooting poorly in a 51-44 overtime victory against East Valley on
Friday, Vashon Island coach Andy Sears knew his team wasn't done yet.
"We've been good shooters all season and we thought we were due," said
Sears, whose team will meet Grandview in the third/sixth-place game at
3:30 p.m. Saturday. "We didn't shoot well last night and we didn't think
we would continue to do that."
The Pirates battled back with Shane Davis, who scored a team-high 15
points, hitting a 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 53 seconds remaining to knot
the score at 32-32. Mike Serko was the only other VI player in double
figures with 11.
The two teams traded three-point plays before the Lyncs pulled away
thanks to strong shooting from the foul line. They hit their last 6 of
10 free throws to close out the game with an 8-2 run and get them out of
coach Vic Wolffis' least favorite late-game situation.
"Desperation is liberating (for a trailing team)," Wolffis said. "They
can force you because you're up, ahead and not desperate. It's not a
liberating situation and you can make more mistakes."
Lynden Christian -- Van Weerdhuizen 1-5 0-0 3, Holleman 0-0 0-0 0,
G. Burgers 5-15 2-3 12, De Boer 0-1 0-0 0, Hendricks 1-4 4-7 6, K.
Burgers 2-3 0-0 4, Coston 7-13 4-6 18. Totals 16-41 10-16 43.
3-point goals--LC 1-11 (Van Weerdhuizen 1-5, K. Burgers 0-1, Coston
0-2, G. Burgers 0-3), VI 6-20 (Serko 3-7, Davis 2-7, Holert 1-5,
Andrus 0-1). Rebounds--LC 33 (Hendricks 7, K. Burgers 7), VI 29 (Amstrup
9). Assists--LC 6 (Hendricks 3), VI 6 (Andrus 3). Steals--LC 2, VI 2. Blocked shots--LC
1, VI 0. Fouled out--Davis.
Total fouls--LC 14, VI 20. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--LC 9,
VI 8.
