A moment of strangeness shuffled through the SunDome as the Sunnyside Christian boys headed to the postgame locker room.

“It’s all right Lummi,” said one heckler, who obviously cheered for the Blackhawks. “They’re scared. That’s right, they can’t play ball.”

The Knights greeted the jeers Thursday with polite smiles and a few raised eyebrows. The only reactions players can muster after handling Lummi 74-37 to advance to the semifinals of the Class 1B state tournament.

“They don’t like the patience we use,” said SC guard Aaron Van de Graaf, who finished tied with Joel Koopmans for the team-high at 20 points. “We use patience and ball movement to try and score on each possession.

“We know we don’t need too many because we take care of the ball and rely on our good defense.”

The offense and the defense clicked against the Blackhawks (12-12 overall), and the players could debate which broke Lummi’s spirit more.

Was it the 24-9 run to open the first quarter? An offensive outburst featuring three players knocking down four 3-pointers thanks to Cole Van de Graaf starting his 10-point night with six points inside.

Or was it a third quarter in which no Blackhawk made a basket from the field? They managed only four points for the frame compared to the Knights’ 20, and three of those came on free throws for two technical fouls less than a minute after halftime.

Uncharacteristic fouls called on the Sunnyside Christian bench that left the coaching staff wrinkling their brows after the game. Another strange moment for a game that had nothing weird going on in between the baskets for the top-ranked Knights (24-0).

“I felt terrible because I was just defending my assistant,” said SC coach Dean Wagenaar, who now has technical fouls in his last two games — his first ever at a state tournament. “I just asked what went on.

“I apologize. ... I guess in the next game I’m going to have to be absolutely quiet.”

The first technical went to one of the Knights’ assistant coaches, who said he only was shouting encouragement to Cole Van de Graaf. The referee didn’t like something about whatever he said, signaling for a technical before following that with another one on Wagenaar.

The outburst surprised even the SC players. Aaron Van de Graaf went over to the bench at one point to find out what occurred as the Blackhawks hit 3 of 4 from the foul line.

None of that mattered as Lummi hit only one more free throw the rest of the quarter on the way to 26 turnovers for the game. Jordan Wilson was the only Blackhawk in double figures with 17 points as the technical fouls only fired up the Knights.

“That got us going,” Koopmans said. “When that happened, we got upset and we wanted to let them know we were the best team there tonight.
“We played our best (defense) and it looked great; we clamped down.”

The offense was worth admiring in the first quarter. SC came out with the plan to work the ball inside to Cole Van de Graaf and that worked quite well. This opened up the outside as Koopmans, Jesse Brouwer and Aaron Van de Graaf all knocked down 3-pointers.

Aaron Van de Graaf, who said the sore ankle he rolled Monday feels better each day, finished 5 of 7 from beyond the arc. He hit three in the third quarter before sitting down and watching the bench players for both teams close out a victory that guarantees the Knights another state trophy after taking seventh last year. They will meet Curlew, which defeated LaCrosse-Washtucna 51-48 in overtime Thursday, in the semifinals at 9 p.m. Friday.

The Knights’ trip through Spokane last year included a 35-22 victory against the Blackhawks in a loser-out game. One in which only the defense was on display instead of sharing time with the offense. So maybe Lummi was the group who thought Thursday’s outcome was quite weird.

“In the warmups I could tell they were relaxed,” said Wagenaar, whose team scored only 49 points in its first-round win against Odessa. “From there the (3-pointers) went.”

Lummi -- James 0-2 0-0 0, Tom 1-1 0-0 2, K. Dennis 2-2 1-1 5, Jefferson 0-0 0-0 0, B. Dennis 1-10 0-0 2, Jameson 1-1 0-0 2, Robertson 2-8 3-5 7, Lopez 0-1 0-0 0, Wilson 6-11 3-3 17, Adams 0-2 0-0 0, Hillaire 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 14-40 7-9 37.
Sunnyside Christian -- Koopmans 7-12 2-5 18, Van Oostrum 0-1 0-0 0, C. Van de Graaf 5-6 0-0 10, Van Boven 0-3 0-0 0, J. Brouwer 3-7 0-0 8, M. De Jong 3-5 0-0 7, L. Brouwer 2-4 0-0 4, A. Van de Graaf 6-10 3-6 20, De Vries 0-0 0-0 0, Meininger 1-5 1-2 3, De Jong 1-3 1-2 4, Freepons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 7-15 74.
Lummi	9	13	4	11	--	37
Sunnyside Christian	24	12	20	18	--	74
3-point goals--L 2-13 (Wilson 2-4, Robertson 0-1, James 0-1, B. Dennis 0-7), SC 11-27 (A. Van de Graaf 5-7, Koopmans 2-5, J. Brouwer 2-6, M. De Jong 1-2, N. De Jong 1-2, L. Brouwer 0-2, Meininger 0-3). Rebounds--L 32 (Lopez 7), SC 28 (A. Van de Graaf 5). Assists--L 7 (Robertson 3), SC 18 (A. Van de Graaf 5). Steals--L 4 (B. Dennis 2), SC 17 (J. Brouwer 6). Blocked shots--L 1, SC 2. Fouled out--None. Total fouls--L 14, SC 12. Technical fouls--SC bench 2. Turnovers--L 26, SC 7.