SPORTS
By Neil Macdonald

Borderite BK goes to State
Borderite exchange student Bayartsengel Khishigdorj finished fifth at 152 pounds at the 2A Region 1 Wrestling Tournament at Mountlake Terrace High School on February 14-15 to qualify for State.

Khishigdorj decisioned Port Townsend’s Nathan Vanderven 14-5 in his opening round. BK was tied 2-2 with Mt. Baker’s BJ Vavra late in their second round bout when it was suddenly J before K as BJ pinned BK at 5:20.

Khishigdorj dropped an 8-4 decision to Lakewood’s Matt Richardson in his next bout, which put BK in the 5th-6th place final where he defeated Klahowya’s Brent Collier 3-1 to gain a berth at State.

Borderite Richie Tewes, who’ll be an alternate at State at 130 pounds, went 1-3 at Regionals. Tewes lost 11-5 to Vashon’s Josh Thorn, defeated Port Townsend’s Will Bringgold 7-5, then lost 12-6 to Lakewood’s Mark Villano and 11-7 to South Whidbey’s Conley White.

Blaine’s Anthony Terris, an alternate at State at 275 pounds, edged Foster’s Pat Buckmaster 11-10 in a heavyweight opening round match. Terris was then pinned in 1:47 by Vashon’s Nick Berry and in 1:20 by Lakewood’s Mac Pedersen before meeting Buckmaster, once again, this time in the 5th-6th final. The bout was as close as their first encounter. Unfortunately one of the two had to lose and most unfortunately for Terris and his Borderite supporters, it was Terris’ turn as Buckmaster won 5-4 to gain the spot at State.

Bryce Lacasse also represented Blaine at 275, but lost his first two bouts and was eliminated.

Lady B’s win 18th straight despite ailments
Blaine’s health-challenged Lady Bs rallied after a tough first quarter to defeat Meridian 40-24 at Borderite Court on February 12 and came from behind to gain a 48-45 OT victory over South Whidbey on February 14 at Langley in North Cascades Conference girls basketball action.

The wins extended the Lady B’s record to 18-0 overall, 14-0 NCC.

Illness was as much Blaine’s opponents as the Lady Falcons or Trojans. The viral-infected Lady B’s fought a war on two fronts.

The crucial point in the SW game came with 9 secs left in Q4. The Lady Falcons were ahead 40-38. Lady B Linsey Taylor swept past a pair of SW defenders, drew a flock of Lady Falcons towards her and promptly passed to a cool Kimberly Harmening, who hit an 18-footer a nanosecond of silence before the buzzer to make OT possible.

The Bs then outscored SW 8-5 to win. Jessica Summers got 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Kristina Francis, 8 points and 7 assists. Taylor scored 12 points; Harmening, 9; Shela Robertson, 6; and Jennifer Kramer, 2.

The first Q of the Trojan game was foul-filled, Blaine got 6; Meridian, 5. By 2:40 of the quarter, Summers had two and was on the bench.

The Lady Ts went up 5-1 at 5:20. Things looked a bit bleak for the Lady Bs. Their top gun wouldn’t be back until Q3. Half the team was coughing, wheezing, aching and shaking.
But what’s a little adversity to a top-ranked team? Down 6-3 after Q1, Blaine came back as Robertson hit a deuce; Taylor, a pair of freebees; and Kramer, a trey to give the Lady Bs the lead with 6:04 left in Q2. It was a lead Gang Green never relinquished. They outscored Meridian 12-4 in Q2, 8-6 in Q3 and 17-8 in Q4.

Robertson, encircled by Black and Gold defenders, took a pass under the cords, dribbled, instantly recovered the ball when it got loose, spun every which way but the wrong way, elevated and somehow scored despite a forest of defending arms.

Phillina Cain came off the bench and, well, raised Cain. Her energy expenditure, both defensively and offensively, rivaled the Energizer Bunny’s output. Summers scored 10 second half points. Harmening popped in a season-high 11 points. Robertson added 10; Cain, 3; Ainsley Nix 2; Kramer, 2; and Taylor 2.

The Lady Bs finish the regular NCC season at Sultan on February 20, not the 21st, as previously scheduled. District runs February 26-March 8 in Mt. Vernon and State goes March 12-15 in Yakima.

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