The Doug Lange Network 

March 3, 2019 

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Back to back. It's a repeat for Lynden boys basketball as  2A state champions for the second straight year. The Lions survived a second half scare Saturday night at the Yakima SunDome to beat Selah 60-51. The win gives Lynden their 10th boys basketball state title overall. 

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Senior post Clayton Whitman led the Lions with 19 points and 9 rebounds to claim his second straight tournament MVP. Christian Zamora turned in a 19 point 11 rebound double-double. The senior swingman earned 2nd team All Tourney honors. 

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The top-seeded Lions built a lead as big as 21 points midway through the 3rd quarter before the No. 7 Vikings made a run to cut the lead down to 5 into the final 5 minutes of the 4th quarter. Elijah Pepper led the charge with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, his brother Noah Pepper added 15 points and 8 rebounds. 

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Lynden responded with a 10-5 run over the final 2:30 of the game to put it into the win column. Speaking on the NFHS/Eli Network postgame show Whitman said it's always fun to finish with a close game. 

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"I don't want to finish sitting on the bench." said Whitman. "It got a little bit too close with 5 points, but then we just fought back and extended the lead."  

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The big difference came from long range. The Lions nailed four more 3-balls than Selah, outscoring the Vikings 24-to-12 from beyond the arc. Lynden also won the rebounding battle 39-29 and doubled up Selah on second chance points at 12-to-6. 

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Lynden coach Brian Roper told the NFHS/Eli Network postgame show he was proud of his guys and how they responded after seeing their big lead cut down to size. 

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"Our kids were really positive. You know it''s hard to lose a lead like that, but they stayed together, said Roper.  "They kept talking... hey we're up, we've got 5 minutes to go, let's get some stops and guys started making plays." 

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Lynden finishes the year with a record of 26-and-1. It's the third time the Lions have won back-to-back state championships also pulling off the feat in the 1961 and 1962 season as well as the 1990 and 1991 campaigns. 

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- Doug Lange 

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