The Lynnwood boys basketball team never had a bus ride home quite like last Saturday night.

Spirits were running sky high as the Royals clinched their first state berth since 1986 with a 70-67 victory over Bellingham in a Class 3A Northwest District 1 semifinal game Feb. 18 at Squalicum High School.

“It was crazy,” Lynnwood senior center Brennen Grubb said of the boisterous two-hour return trip home from Bellingham.

Grubb scored a career-high 27 points to lead Lynnwood, which takes on Lynden at 8 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 25) in the district championship game at Squalicum High School.

“He really stepped up big for us,” Lynnwood coach Landon Porter said. “I think he only missed two shots for the whole game. His inside pull-up jumper was working. I think everything was working for him.”

Grubb, who connected on four 3-pointers for the night, hit several shots from the outside in the first half and then was effective inside when he posted up against his defender in the second half. Grubb also made six of eight free throws.

“It was an all-around game for me,” Grubb said.

Lynnwood came out cold in the first few minutes of the first quarter, missing several shots before finally settling down.

The gym was packed with both Lynnwood and Bellingham fans and the Royals were not used to the highly charged atmosphere.

“We haven’t been in a big game like that,” Grubb said. “We came out and had four air balls in the first quarter.”

But the Royals battled through the brief cold streak in the first quarter with Grubb scoring eight points. The teams were tied at 15 at the start of the second quarter before Lynnwood started to seize control of the game.

“I think after we had gathered ourselves and calmed down everything started going our way,” Grubb said. “Our defense, everything was just clicking.”

The Royals took a 38-27 lead into halftime and maintained the 11-point advantage through the start of the fourth quarter.

Bellingham, however, used a 12-5 run to cut the deficit to 66-65 late in the fourth quarter.

“It always happens that we get a lead at halftime,” Grubb said. “Then all of a sudden the game starts to get close. They had a few runs and the game got real close and real tight. We responded back like we have been. Fortunately we did keep the lead and ended up winning the game.”

Lynnwood was clinging to a 68-65 lead when Bellingham’s Zack Henifin was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 8.7 seconds left in the game.

He made the first two free throws to cut the deficit to 68-67 and then Porter called a timeout. When Henifin returned to the line he missed the third free throw and Grubb grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled.

The Lynnwood senior made both of his free throws to seal the Royals’ berth to the state tournament.

“We hit a lot of free throws down the stretch,” Porter said. “That’s been really good for us.”

At the start of the season, Lynnwood made four goals, two of which the Royals have achieved — hosting a district playoff game and securing a berth to the state tournament.

Next on Lynnwood’s agenda is winning a district title and then taking home a state trophy to complement the fourth-place hardware from 1986.

“We’re not thinking about state,” Grubb said. “I think everybody is going to be focused on Lynden. They’re big. They’re a good team. We can’t take them lightly. It’s going to be a good game. Hopefully, we’ll be coming out on top.”

Porter expects his team to be ready for the Lions, which will be facing a Lynnwood squad that spent the entire regular season going up against 4A schools. Lynden also has clinched a state berth.

“They (Lions) are going to be tough,” Porter said. “But I like us a lot. We played in a real tough league. We played Jackson and Kamiak. We’re very well prepared.”

Nathan Rudd scored 16 points and Jeremy Rudd had 12 points for the Royals, who improved to 16-6 overall.

Lynnwood opened district play with a 54-47 victory over Sehome Feb. 15 at Lynnwood High School.

Nathan Rudd scored 22 points, while Grubb added 12. Teammate Andrew Beatty had 10 points.

The Royals eagerly anticipated hosting its first district playoff game in more than 15 years.

“Our whole goal was to get that first playoff game at home,” Porter said. “Once we got here, we felt we could do a good job here with a good crowd. Our guys were really focused.”

Lynnwood jumped out to a 13-4 first quarter advantage and led 25-17 at halftime. The Mariners cut the lead to 41-38 early in the fourth quarter but were not able to draw any closer than three points the rest of the way.

Beatty and Nathan Rudd each made two free throws in the final 18 seconds.

The Royals have spent a lot of time practicing free throws

“We’ve been up and down all season long,” Porter said. “We’ve really tried to focus on it and we’ve gotten better at it. We know at this point of the season it’s very important to hit those free throws. We’ve been practicing in the morning. We’ve shot hundreds of those. It paid off.”

Herald writer Kevin Johnson contributed to this story.