PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Roughriders basketball team gave the No. 1 1A team in the state a run for its money, but a 15-2 run by Lynden Christian proved to be the difference in a 64-50 loss this weekend.
The undefeated Lyncs (12-0 overall) are the defending state 1A champions and showed it, outscoring the Riders 24-9 in the second quarter in Saturday’s contest.
“I loved our energy. We played extremely hard, at times we played well. There were a couple of stretches our execution wasn’t very good. A team of that caliber takes advantage of every mistake,” said coach Kasey Ulin.
“We’re really close to being a very good team,” he said.
The Riders purposely played a very tough nonleague schedule, with the Lynden Christian game and four games against 3A and 4A opponents. Port Angeles went 3-2 in those five games.
“That’s what great programs do. We need to be tested,” Ulin said.
Lynden Christian was led by Andrew DeVries with 22 and Cole Bajema with 20. Ulin said Bajema is commited to the University of Michigan and he was proud that the Riders held him to 5 for 19 shooting.
Port Angeles was led by Kyle Benedict with 14, Liam Clark with 10 and Payton Schmidt with nine.
Port Angeles (3-1, 7-4) returns to league action tonight against at home against Sequim (3-2, 7-4), which has won two straight. The game begins at 7:15 p.m.
The Port Angeles (5-0, 11-1) girls will also play Sequim (4-2, 7-3) at 5:45 p.m. in Port Angeles.
Lynden Christian 64, Port Angeles 50
PA 23 9 6 12 — 50
LC 18 24 13 9 — 64
Port Angeles (50) — Benedict 14, Clark 10, Schmidt 9, Johnson 7, Edwards 5, Kathol 3, Long 2.
Lynden Christian (64) — DeVries 22, Bejema 20, Caldwell 16, Bos 3, Longstraat 3.
