by Trevor Pyle
Mount Vernon’s Ally Kutz (right) fights for the ball with Lynden’s Shelbie Miller during Friday night’s game.
MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon girls’ basketball team buried a losing streak Friday night under a flurry of shots from beyond the arc.
Angelica Espinoza scored 15 points, Cheyenne Walker turned in two crucial plays in the closing minutes and the Bulldogs buried 10 3-pointers for a 59-54 Northwest Conference victory over Lynden.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Bulldogs (1-1 conference, 3-5 overall) and gave them their first conference victory.
“I couldn’t feel happier than I am now,” point guard Sabrina Squires said. “This was a big win.”
Mount Vernon started a different-than-usual starting lineup against the Lions, who went to last year’s Class 2A state tournament.
The Bulldogs responded, hitting eight 3-point shots in the first half, four of them from Espizona who went 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
At one point, the Bulldogs’ shots were falling so consistently they even scored one off an inbound play, with Espinoza hitting Walker with a pass from the baseline for a 3-pointer at the top of the key.
“They came out and established the tempo and established how physical the game would be,” Lynden coach Rob Adams said. “We didn’t respond well to it.”
While the Bulldogs held a double-digit lead in the first half, Lynden sliced it to five by halftime and eventually took the lead in the second half before Mount Vernon wrestled it away for good.
This time the Bulldogs held on with help from Squires (who played the final 7 minutes, 26 seconds with four fouls) and Walker.
Walker, the squad’s leading scorer coming into the game, turned in what may have been the most crucial defensive play of the evening with 1:37 remaining. With the Bulldogs up by six, she lunged into a passing lane and came up with the steal.
She also hit two free throws with seven seconds remaining to ice the victory.
She ended with 13 points.
Ally Kutz turned in a double-double for Mount Vernon with 11 points and 10 rebounds and hit three 3-pointers; Squires had nine points and six assists.
Mount Vernon coach Scott Stromer said Jessica Keesee also turned in crucial minutes in her first career start. Keesee had six points and four rebounds, three of them on the offensive end.
“She played solid for us,” he said.
Brandi Benner led Lynden (1-1, 7-2) with 22 points and hit three outside shots.
“We tried to take Benner out of the game and had to throw some gimmicky defenses at her to slow her down,” Stromer said. “She still had more than 20.”
Stromer said the Bulldogs had a good evening from the free-throw line where they hit 9-of-10.
• Trevor Pyle can be reached at 360-416-2156 or by e-mail at
