SPORTS

Blaine wrestlers advance to state
By Neil Macdonald
Tyler Glahn placed second in the 125-pound class and teammate Richie Tewes finished fifth in the 130-pound category at 2A Region 1 wrestling at Mountlake Terrace on February 9 to earn spots in Mat Classic XIII (a.k.a. State finals) in the Tacoma Dome February 15-16.
The Borderite duo take on a couple of fellows from Othello in the first round. Glahn faces George Perez and Tewes tangles with J.D. Gomez. Borderite Anthony Terris will be an alternate in the 275-pound class.
Glahn finished second at 125 pounds in Regionals, opening with a 14-3 victory over Vashon’s Dylan Gines, following with a 9-0 win over Eatonville’s Curt Nelson before losing a 4-3 final to Mt. Baker’s Anthony Zender, who had edged him 2-1 at District.
Glahn said, “I wrestled pretty solid. My defense could have been better. I’ll have to wrestle tougher at State.”
Blaine coach Craig Foster noted, “Tyler wrestled a good tournament. Unfortunately, he suffered another one-point loss, but both Zender and he are considered favorites. They’re in opposite sides of the brackets at State. If they meet again, it could be in the final.”
If they do, it could be the match of the meet.
Tewes, a junior, registered 11 takedowns while out-pointing Orting’s Josh Fisher 26-10 in the first round at 130 pounds. Tewes was pinned by Port Townsend’s Rich Johnson five seconds short of regulation time in his next bout and was relegated to the consolation bracket where he dropped a 14-8 decision to Mt. Baker’s Weldon Hemple in his third match at District. Eyeball-to-eyeball with elimination, Tewes scored a 5-3 victory over Sultan’s Jacob Beedle to grab fifth place at District and a trip to State.
“I wrestled pretty tough,” Tewes explained, “I didn’t make too many mistakes, but I felt awful.”
The latter was a reference to Tewes’ other opponent at Regionals – a full-blown bout with the flu. “But I feel real good about going to State,” Tewes concluded.
Sophomore Randy Newton, suffering from rib injuries, was forced to default both his bouts at 145 pounds. Coach Foster noted, “Randy had a real good chance to qualify.” He left the obvious unsaid. Sore ribs, having a nasty habit of hurting, are a sorry companion to accompany a wrestler onto the mat.
Blaine sophomore Anthony Terris, 215 pounds of Borderite pride wrestling in the 275-pound category was pinned by Steilacoom’s Craig Chambers in 45 seconds in his opening bout, but rallied to defeat Meridian’s Bruce Wood 5-1 in his first consolation round match. Terris was pinned by Sultan’s Jesse Brown, 2002’s District champ, in 30 seconds in his next bout which placed him sixth with an alternate spot at State.
Foster noted, “Anthony came awfully close. This was only his second year wrestling. He’s come a long way.” .
Back to Top

Lady Bs upset three foes
Pat Green’s Lady B basketball team extended their winnings ways to nine straight, concluding a three-game week on February 9 with a 64-16 makeup game win over Sultan in North Cascades Conference action at the Big Orange (a.k.a. Borderite Court).
The fourfold out-scoring of the Turks followed a twofold 54-27 out-pointing of Granite Falls on February 8 at Blaine and a 61-52 upsetting of front-running Nooksack Valley in the Pioneers
pavilion.
Jessica Summers extended her NCC-leading scoring total to 301 points in 18 games (16.7 ppg) with 24 points against NV, 21 against GF and 15 against Sultan.
Along with her 24 points, Stretch got 17 boards in the Pioneer get-together. While Summers was finding success inside, NV’s 5-7 senior guard Shelley Harder was scoring a game-high 26 points, primarily of the perimeter kind.
With the battle of these two All-Conference shoo-ins being more or less a draw, the remaining Lady B’s and P’s decided the duel. It was an up-hill haul for Green’s machine. NV led 11-10, 29-24 and 37-35 at the quarters. Blaine had to operate without their Secretary of Defense Linsey Taylor, who picked up three fouls in the first six minutes, for eons at a stretch.
Fortunately for the O&B, Amber Rucker filled in most adequately defensively. Offensively, Anna Sticklin scored 13 points; Kimberly Harmening, 10; Taylor, 7; Becky Riddle, 5; and Kristina Francis, 2.
The Granite Falls affair went pretty well as expected. Blaine came into the game with a 13-3 record and a seven-game win streak. The short-bench, injury-burdened Lady Tigers brought a 7-10 record and seven players. Blaine outscored the Lady T’s in every quarter, leading 17-8, 31-13 and 41-16. The highlights were Taylor’s scoring 8 points in Q1, Summers sinking 8 in Q2, the Lady B’s holding GF scoreless for 13 seconds short of six minutes in Q3, and Blaine’s five non-starters outscoring GF 11-7 in the final two minutes and 15 seconds of the game.
The Blaine-Sultan game was a non-contest. The Lady B’s held the Turks to 2 points in Q1, 2 points in Q2 and 3 points in Q3, leading 19-2, 30-4 and 50-7 at the quarters. Blaine’s non-starters out-pointed the Lady T’s 14-9 in Q4.
Blaine play Meridian on February 15 at Laurel in the NCC regular season finale.

B Boys lose one, win two
Very much aware that Nooksack had to beat undefeated Lynden Christian at LC on February 12 to remain sole occupants of second place in boys NCC basketball, third-place Blaine rebounded from a 66-59 loss to NV on February 5 at home to beat Sultan 50-41 on February 7 and Granite Falls 47-42 on February 8.
The loss to the Pioneers left Blaine with a 1-1 split in games against NV. The Borderites won their first encounter, 56-54 in OT. The loss put the Borderites in the position of having to root for the Lyncs, whom the Pioneers played on February 12 while TNL was at press. You pull for anything from a Bobcat to a Polecat to get second and that bye in the first round of District competition.
Nooksack’s Feb. 5 win over Blaine was highlighted by a four-and-a-half minute 10-0 Pioneer scoring streak early in the fourth quarter. Jason Heutink led the Pioneers with 20 points. Ryan Pike paced Blaine with 17. Keith Williams added 14 and Brendan Mulholland got 10 for the Borderites.
The Blaine-Sultan set-to was characterized by the Borderites constantly going to the hoop. Coach Dan Rucker explained, “We got away from it against Nooksack and it probably cost us the game. Now our attack is about where we want it.”
Blaine’s persistent pressure as in press-press-press was also very evident. Offensively the Double B’s led 9-7, 26-20 and 34-28 at the quarters. Blaine’s scoring went Cory Crews 15, Jake Gilmore 11, Pike 11, Williams 9, Skyler Anderson 3 and Grant Sanders, 1.
The Blaine-Granite Falls contest was a physical affair. It was also a close run thing. The three points of separation that represented a 10-7 Borderite advantage in Q1 was the largest edge Blaine had in any quarter. The Double B’s only outscored the T’s 14-13 and 13-12 in Q’s 2 and 3. Q4 was 10-all.
Crews led the Borderite point parade with 16 points. Pike added 15; Anderson, 9; Gilmore, 6; and Williams, 1. Crews topped Blaine in boards with 8.
Blaine host Meridian on February 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the NCC regular season finale. District doings begin February 20 at Mt. Vernon. If Blaine and Nooksack end in a tie for second they will meet in a playoff game on neutral ground to decide who gets a free pass in the first round at District since a bye cannot be awarded on a coin toss.

Back to Top