STATE BASKETBALL: Neah Bay boys bounced by defending state champion No. 1 Lummi
Published 1:30 am Thursday, March 5, 2026
SPOKANE — Top-seeded Lummi was too strong and too skilled for No. 7-seed Neah Bay as the defending state champion Blackhawks dispatched the Red Devils 70-48 in the Class 1B State Boys Basketball Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at the Spokane Veterans Arena.
Neah Bay (19-7) will face No. 6 Liberty Christian (23-4) in a 9 a.m. loser-out contest today with a spot in Saturday’s 4th/6th-place contest on the line.
Tyler Swan, the Red Devils all-time leading scorer with more than 2,000 points, did as much as he could offensively, knocking down 9-of-19 shots from the field and all nine of his free throw attempts to lead all scorers with 30 points, but Lummi was just too deep.
The Blackhawks consistently got out in transition in the first half, beating Neah Bay’s high 2-3 zone defense back down court before it could get set up on a number of possessions and edging past Red Devil defenders when Neah Bay switched to playing man-to-man defensively.
Lummi (24-1-1) got 20 points from Jerome Toby Jr., a 2,000-point scorer for his career, in the victory. The Blackhawks tied Lakewood 69-69 in their season opener, a game ended because of a power outage in overtime.
Central Washington-commit Chayce Waite-Keller couldn’t be stopped inside as the 6-foot-8 post cashed in 16 points on 8-of-9 shots from the floor, along with 14 rebounds as Lummi controlled the paint on both ends of the court.
The Blackhawks led 40-25 at halftime.
Daniel Cumming scored six points out of the break as Neah Bay closed to within 42-31 with 5:15 left in the third quarter, but Toby answered immediately with a runner on the other end and the Red Devils wouldn’t come any closer the remainder of the contest.
Neah Bay 11 14 13 10 — 48
Lummi 20 20 15 15 — 70
Neah Bay: T. Swan 30, Cumming 7, M. Greene 3, R. Greene 3, F. Ray 3, E. Ray 2, Smith, C. Swan, Akin, Arnold Jr.
Lummi: Toby 20, Waite-Keller 16, Edwards 12, LaFontaine 6, James 6, Yrizarris 3, Hawk 2, Jones 2, Toby-Williams 2, Revey 1.
