Blaine girls lose after starting strong against Lakewood

Blaine’s Ashley Dickerson passes around Lakewood’s Jelly Perry and finds Alex’s Hallberg open on January 30. Photos by Oliver Lazenby.

By Oliver Lazenby

With the basketball season winding down, the girls varsity team needs to win a few games to have a shot at the playoffs.

The last three opponents are all teams that Blaine could beat, but in the first of three final home games on Monday, January 30, Blaine lost to Lakewood 45–34.

The Borderites started strong, with Ashley Dickerson scoring four seconds into the game after snagging the tip-off from Josie Deming. But Lakewood’s offense, setting constant screens on the Borderites defense, was soon in control.

Blaine trailed 21–11 at halftime and fell to 32–16 midway through the third quarter.

“Coming back from that wasn’t an insurmountable feat,” said head coach Ryan Pike. “We have a fighter spirit on our team and we’re always going to play hard.”

The Borderites brought fans to their feet midway through the fourth quarter after a nine-point scoring rally that Deming kicked off with a three-pointer. The rally brought the score to 37–33.

Ashley Dickerson scored 13 points against Lakewood.

In the final four minutes, Lakewood beat Blaine on a few crucial rebounds, smothering a potential comeback.

“If we made some lay-ins that we missed, it could have been a different game,” Pike said.

Blaine played aggressive defense as Lakewood tried to stall, but Lakewood’s offense drew fouls and hit free throws, propelling the team to a 45–34 win.

Dickerson scored 13 points for Blaine, Deming scored 11 and Brynn Hallberg had five.

If they win their remaining two games, the Borderites (5–13 record, 0–11 in conference games) could still qualify for the post-season. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association uses a statistical system to seed teams for playoffs, which makes it hard to know ahead of time how a team needs to do to make the cut.

The Borderites next game is at 6 p.m. on February 2 at home against Sedro-Woolley (6–11). Their last game of the regular season is at home on Monday, February 6 against Bellingham (1–16).