In the final week of games before the Northwest Conference season pauses for winter break, the Borderites had a great showing on the wrestling mat and bowling alley, but not so much on the court.
Girls bowling scored a team-high 1566 points and boys wrestling showed out again with a third place finish at the Spud Walley Invitational, but both basketball teams stumbled out the gate to start conference play.
Boys Wrestling
Blaine boys wrestling finished third overall in the Spud Walley Invitational in Sedro-Woolley on December 14, sending four wrestlers to the finals with Cole Voight earning the team’s lone first place finish.
The Borderites were only beaten by the host team Sedro-Woolley and Wapato in a field of 19 teams.
Aiden Hancock, Daniel Johner and Otto Shelton all finished in second place in their respective weight classes. It was the second top-two tournament finish for each wrestler so far this season.
Voight defeated Sedro-Woolley’s Giovani Panfilo-Ortiz in the final round by fall in just under three minutes. It was Voight’s highest finish in a tournament so far this year, after placing fourth in the Mariner Holiday Tournament on December 7, when Blaine also placed third as a team.
Hancock lost the first place match by 11-6 decision to Ashton Myers of Lynnwood in the 126-pound division. Daniel Johner lost his first place match to Wapato wrestler Aiden Badonie by fall, and Otto Shelton was defeated by fall to Wyatt Strait from Ferndale.
Rhys Milligan and Vinnie Saia each placed fourth in their respective weight classes.
Blaine boys wrestling will host its first home meet of the season on Wednesday, December 18 at 6 p.m. (after press time) when they face conference rival Nooksack Valley.
Boys Basketball
Blaine boys basketball had a tough stretch of three conference games in under a week, and after starting out the season 2-1 in non-conference play, dropped three straight and now sit at 2-4 with a 0-3 Northwest Conference (NWC) record.
The Borderites hosted its first NWC game of the season against Bellingham (3-1, 2-1 NWC), and simply weren’t able to keep up with the offensive output of the Bayhawks, losing 83-41. Landon Melton had one of his best offensive games of the season, leading the team with 15 points, and Abdule Kanagie added 12 points. Bellingham simply couldn’t seem to miss on its many three-point attempts throughout the night, and forced a running clock to end the game.
The next game, Blaine travelled to face Sehome (3-3, 2-1 NWC) on December 14, losing 69-49. Despite 13 points and six assists from team captain Josiah Weeda and another solid night from Kanagie (six points and seven rebounds), the Borderites couldn’t slow down Sehome’s star point guard Nolan Wright, who scored a game-high 30 points along with nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals.
On December 17, Blaine travelled to play Burlington-Edison (5-1, 2-1 NWC) and lost 79-47. The Borderites are now sitting at the bottom of the NWC table, but have plenty of time to start stringing wins together and begin the slow climb up the conference standings.
Blaine will play one more game before winter break, travelling to face Meridian (4-1, 2-1 NWC) on Friday, December 20 at 7:15 p.m. The Borderites will begin the new year at home against Squalicum on Friday, January 3 at 7:15 p.m.
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Girls Basketball
Girls basketball also didn’t fare well in its opening string of NWC games, losing to Bellingham on the road and Sehome at home. The pair of losses dropped the Borderites to 1-4 on the season with a 0-2 conference record.
Blaine travelled to face Bellingham (3-1, 1-1 NWC) for its first conference game of the season, and kept with the hosting Bayhawks up until the final quarter. Blaine went into the fourth quarter down 22-21, but a 9-0 run in the waning minutes of the game put Bellingham over the top, defeating the Borderites 35-24.
Junior Aaliyah Bowman scored nine points despite coming off the bench, leading the Borderites in scoring on the night. Brietta Sandell played staunch defense, racking up six steals and Brie Smith earned a game-high nine rebounds along with four points.
Against Sehome (2-2, 2-1 NWC) on December 14, the Borderites just couldn’t get their shots to fall, losing 44-11 at home.
Blaine was held to just one point in the first half, and faced a 24-point deficit going in to halftime. Sandell scored three points along with five rebounds, and Bowman led the game with a whopping eight steals on defense.
Blaine will play back-to-back road games to finish out 2024 before winter break begins, facing Meridian (2-1, 2-1 NWC) on Friday, December 20 at 5:40 p.m., then traveling south to Everett to face non-conference opponent Cascade on Saturday, December 21 at 4 p.m.
Stats provided by
WhatcomPreps.com
Girls Bowling
Girls bowling defeated Cascade on Monday, December 16 at Mt. Baker Lanes by a combined score of 1566-1163. It was the team’s third win on the season, adding to wins against Meridian and Everett, and was their largest margin of victory.
Captains Madi Miller and Shaylie Daniels led the team in scoring, with Miller scoring a single-game high of 166 and Shaylie earning a total match score of 291. According to head coach Matt McAuley, the 1566 score was the highest score ever recorded by the Blaine girls bowling team.
The team then travelled to Evergreen Bowling to face Everett, but weren’t able to beat the team for a second time this season, losing 1417-1327.
Girls bowling will play one more match against Mt. Vernon at Mt. Baker Lanes in Ferndale on December 18 at 3:15 p.m. (after press time) before the winter break.
After the break, the Borderites will host Jackson High School at Mt. Baker Lanes on January 8 at 3:15 p.m.
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