SPORTS
by Jack Kintner

Lady B’s basketball team on a roll against international cast

The Lady B’s are cruising through the early part of their season after an early stumble, losing their opener to Lakewood 40 to 34. In that game Blaine blew a 34-21 third quarter lead by being outscored 19-0 in the fourth quarter.
But since then the Borderites have beaten teams from Australia and Granite Falls and in doing so faced two of the commonest pressure situations in basketball: playing to win in a game that’s tied at the end, and playing clean despite the other team’s frustrated tactics.
With the Australian select team from Box Hill senior secondary in Melbourne, Australia, Blaine spotted them a three-point lead after one quarter and then worked to a five point 24-19 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Australians worked their way back into contention behind the three-point shooting of Kate Godfrey and Hayley Maxwell to tie the score at 32 with less than a minute left in regulation time. But after Jen Kramer threaded the needle to score the final Blaine bucket, a layup over Aussie guard Laura Sensi, the Australians lost the ball out of bounds on their final charge, and point guard Ainsley Nix dribbled away the final seconds.
Against a typically physical Granite Falls squad last Monday, the Blaine girls rose to the occasion once again, dominating the Tigers defensively throughout the game. There’s no love lost between these two squads whatever the sport, and when Granite Falls began to get rough toward the end of the game out of frustration at not being able to solve the Blaine defense, the Lady B’s remained ladies all the way, even when Granite Falls senior forward Kaitlyn Reedy slammed Jen Kramer to the floor near the end of the fourth quarter hard enough to leave her a motionless heap in the floor. Coach Rob Adams walked Kramer off the floor, and a couple of minutes later she returned to the game, dazed but still productive.
Kramer has really moved into the space left by the graduated Jessica Summers with all the aplomb of a veteran player. In her first three games she’s averaging almost 14 points and seven rebounds per game. Junior post Chelsea Crews got the honors for rebounds in the Granite Falls game with six.
Blaine now has a 2-1 record and next meets Nooksack Thursday, December 9 at home. Nooksack is supposedly rebuilding but puts some height in 5-11 Mallory Visser and 6-1 Amanda Koistra at the post. Shooting guard senior Kayla Vermeulen will push Blaine’s back court defense.

Blaine dumps Lynnwood, faces Battle at the Border

Blaine wrestlers erased Lynnwood last Friday 73-6, freshmen Corey Smith (275) and Jesse Kithau (125) winning with two pins each. Blaine ended up at the double-dual meet with a split, losing to Mountlake Terrace 48-25.
Blaine winners against Lynnwood included:
112 - Jason Parker p. Justin Summer 2:39;
119 - Mike Broyan
125 - Jesse Kilthau p. James Hendricks :23
130 - Sam Abrams defeated Josh Miller 19-4
135 - John Brady p. Blake Forest 3:46
140 - Calvin Moore maj. dec. Tucker Boggio 10-1
145 - Derik Stremler defeated Tanner Detschman 15-6
152 - Nick Jordan p. Isaac Stein 1:17
160 - Marty Malabicki p. Dan Plumage 1:15
171 - Matt Determan p. Keith Highbanks 3:36
189 - Shane Hicks
215 - Blayne Brandenburger d. Taymar Alasini 17-3
275 - Corey Smith p. Steven Gruel 1:10.
Against Mountlake Terrace, winners included:
125 - Jesse Kilthau p. Stephen Greene 2:34
130 - Sam Abrams p. Nate Dabling 4:21
135 - John Brady d. Bryce Call 8-4
215 - Blayne Brandenburger d. Josh Carey 6-3
275 - Corey Smith p. Dan Myasato 1:39
Battle at the Border
begins tomorrow
Blaine’s annual 24-team wrestling tournament begins Friday, December 10 at 1 p.m. and continues Saturday at 10 a.m. Finals will be Saturday night at 6 p.m.