🏈 Prep Talk 03/27/26

Local high schools shift focus: As we wrap up March, let's look back at the winter season one last time. Whatcom and Skagit county schools brought back nine state championships in basketball (three), boys swim & dive (one), wrestling (three), girls bowling (one) and girls flag football (one).

The basketball tournaments drew the winter season to an end on March 7. Cascadia Daily News covered three teams' state titles in two different locations. Lynden Christian boys avenged last year’s state title loss with a dominant win over Zillah and the Lynden girls earned their 75th straight win and third 2A title in a row in Yakima.

The Lummi Nation boys won back-to-back 1B state titles with their own style of play called “rez ball.” Rez ball, short for reservation basketball, is a fast-paced, high-tempo style of play predominantly used by Native American communities. The style of play dates back more than a century and led the Blackhawk basketball programs to boys' and girls' trophies in Spokane.

CDN has followed the Lummi boys basketball team closely since November for a documentary film featuring the players, coaches, staff and Lummi community. It is scheduled to premiere at the Pickford Film Center in May.

Working on this project has been an eye-opening opportunity for videographer Finn Wendt and I. Immersed into the Lummi Nation community, we learned about family ties and players' inside jokes, capturing memorable moments from the season on our cameras. The trailer can be found below on YouTube and social platforms.

After coming back from Spokane that weekend, I sprang back into action and caught my first baseball game on March 10 between Burlington-Edison and Squalicum. The Tigers secured a 16-0 run-rule victory over Squalicum in five innings.

We've started the spring's prep spotlights, which have featured Bellingham’s Riley Denton and Blaine’s Abel Carlson-Vega. Denton has high expectations in her senior season as one of the top singles players in the Northwest Conference, while Carlson-Vega has high expectations as well as the starting goalkeeper for the boys’ soccer team, looking to make a deep postseason run in his final season.

We also highlighted a few athletes to keep an eye on this spring in each sport. The spring sports previews showcased a variety of athletes across both counties, including Anacortes' Austin Duchene, Bellingham's Ivy Brooks, Burlington-Edison's Cruz Hanstead, Blaine's Dimitriy Yuryev, Lynden Christian's Eli Stamps and Squalicum's Keeley Meling.

I also captured the moment a baseball legend saw his jersey retired at Sehome High recently. I was flooded by hundreds of community members celebrating Gary Hatch’s No. 10 jersey honored in left field. Hatch, a Sehome player in his youth, spent nearly 50 years as the head coach for Sehome baseball, capturing three state titles and appearing in 18 state tournaments.

As spring continues to roll forward, some big matchups are in sight. Within the first couple of weeks of April, we will see the Anacortes and Sehome soccer teams face off on April 2 and Sedro-Woolley battles Lynden in softball on April 16.

To purchase photos from Cascadia Daily News, visit cascadiadaily.com.