SPORTS
by Jack Kintner

Boys nicked at the buzzer by Ferndale 59-57

In the last game before Christmas, Blaine’s boys had the Ferndale Golden Eagles by nine points at the half of a non-league but important contest with as athletic a team as they’re likely to face this year. Many of the Ferndale players were on the gridiron last fall when Ferndale almost beat a legendary Bellevue team for the AAA state football title.
Indoors, Blaine more than handled their offense until the fourth quarter when the Eagles made a 19 to 11 run to tie the score at the end of regulation play. Ferndale sank five of their nine three-point shots in the fourth quarter.

The see-saw overtime period ended with the Eagles Brad Walton grabbing an offensive rebound and putting it back at the buzzer for a two point win, 59-57.

Hondo Goodwin (19 points), Joey Paciorek (14) and Doug Goldsby (12) combined for 45 of Blaine’s 57 points, an impressive showing that predicts good things for the Borderites league play that continues tonight at home against a tough Meridian team.

Holiday Tourney

Blaine’s annual winter classic featured match-ups with strong teams from South Whidbey, Port Townsend and Burlington-Edison. The Borderites began strong, winning their first games but lost in the finals to both Burlington teams, 53-32 for the boys and 48-21 for the girls.

Boys
In the first game the boys had little trouble with the 1-5 Falcons, who showed up for the tournament with a team of only eight boys. Blaine exploded off the mark to a 19-9 first quarter lead and never looked back, 12 players getting into the game. Senior guard Steve Borden was high scorer with 13 points, including three treys and a timely fourth quarter jump shot that stifled a South Whidbey rally.

The next night the boys ran into a crack Burlington-Edison squad and saw their shooting grow as cold as it’s been all season, less than 29 percent, as they lost 53-32. Burlington played only six against all 12 Blaine players. Tourney MVP Brock Ingman from B-E shot 50 percent, four of eight, from beyond the three point line. Blaine’s Doug Goldsby grabbed 11 rebounds, high for the game.

Girls

In the first game eight of the nine girls Blaine suited up for the contest shared in scoring as the Borderites narrowly defeated South Whidbey 43-42, outscoring the Falcons 15-5 at the free throw line. Blaine trailed early but took the lead with a 13-3 run. At the end of the contest with the score tied at 39, Kramer scored on her patented turnaround jump shot to give Blaine a two-point lead at 41-39. With less than a minute to go South Whidbey’s Catie Newman tied the score but Borderite Lori Robertson answered by sticking a lay-up in heavy traffic with just 20 seconds left to move the lead back up to two points. Falcon guard Brianna Dumke was fouled with just three seconds left but missed her second free throw for the tie, and Blaine walked off with the one-point win.

Coach Rob Adams was pleased with how well his team moved the ball aggressively to the bucket, a change necessitated this year with changed personnel. “We’ll be better as the season goes on,” he said.
In the second contest, Blaine lost to Burlington-Edison 48-21. When asked after the game how they did, Jen Kramer’s one-word answer was “baaad!” ‘Nuff said.

Non-league

A non-league 57-35 loss to Lynden on Tuesday night, a game in which coach Dan Rucker again played everyone, including Craig Rothwell who’s back after healing an ankle sprained against Ferndale, moved the boys’ record so far to 4-6. The girls are at 5-4 not including a non-league tilt against Lynden last night.

Webcast
Next Tuesday’s (January 11) girl’s basketball game between the Blaine Borderites and Lynden Christian Lyncs will be broadcast live on the internet by Blaine high school’s advanced video production class.
Students will provide play-by-play, color commentary, and sideline reports in addition to the three cameras following the action and prepared analysis of the matchups between the teams.

This year’s webcast is being hosted by Aaron Booker of Hardlines (www.hardlines.com) in Bellingham to enable more viewers to access a larger stream. Students are seeking sponsors to offset the cost. The game can be viewed on Windows or Macintosh computers by using QuickTime 6 Player, a free Apple download at www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qt/
To access the webcast, go to www.blaine.k12.wa.us/webcast. Pre-game action will begin at 7:20 p.m. with tip-off at 7:30. For more information, or to become a webcast sponsor, please contact Jim Nelson at jnelson@blaine. k12.wa.us.
Jim Nelson