Three local high school basketball standouts have announced their intentions to attend Pacific Northwest universities beginning this fall and continue with their hardwood journeys.

Mountlake Terrace’s Mason Christianson has signed a letter of intent to attend Lewis & Clark State in Lewiston, Idaho, and will play for the Warriors’ men’s basketball team.

Christianson, a 6-foot guard, was a three-year starter for the Hawks and helped the team qualify for three WIAA 2A State Boys Basketball Tournaments. Over the past two seasons Christianson led Terrace in assists and steals, averaged double-figures in scoring and earned 2A/3A All-Wesco League honors – First Team in the 2018-2019 season and Second Team this past season.

Christianson’s acclaim was recognized among coaches throughout the state this past season as he was named to the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association 2A All-State Team.

Christianson will be joining a Lewis & Clark State program thought of as one of the best among NAIA schools. The Warriors finished the 2019-2020 season with a record of 29-3, were ranked sixth in the final NAIA national poll and their coach, Austin Johnson, was selected the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ (NABC) National Coach of the Year.

Johnson was pleased to announce that Christianson would be attending Lewis & Clark beginning this fall. “We are very excited to add Mason to our program here at LC State,” he said. “He comes from a great high school program that will help him with the transition to college basketball. We love Mason’s toughness and high IQ and think he’s a great fit for what we are looking for in high school recruits.”

Meanwhile, Edmonds-Woodway’s Mutdung Bol will also be heading east of the Cascades to attend Eastern Washington University in Cheney and play for the Eagles.

Bol, a 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 18 points per game for an E-W team that finished with an overall record of 15-8 this past season. Bol also pulled down an average of seven rebounds, dished out five assists and had two steals per game during his senior season.

Bol’s marks were not only noteworthy his past year, but was a four-year varsity team member at E-W; he was named to the All-Wesco League 3A First Team three times over his prep career.

Bol will be entering an Eastern Washington program that has seen plenty of success recently. The Eagles went 16-4 this past year, won the Big Sky Conference regular-season and was slated to be the top seed in the league’s postseason tournament before all college sports were scrapped this spring due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Shantay Legans, men’s basketball coach at Eastern Washington, heaped praise on Bol in a press release earlier this month. “Mutdung is an elite scorer at all three levels and has the ability to make a huge impact in our program for years to come,” Legans said. “Our Eastern family is ecstatic to add another young talent that will be a major contributor for years to come.”

Over at Lynnwood High School, Nakia Boston has announced that she will be attending Portland State University beginning this fall and will play for the Vikings.

Boston, a 5-foot-9 guard and four-year varsity member of the Lynnwood girls’ basketball program, averaged 23.1 points per game this past season with the Royals. Her efforts earned her an Associated Press All-State Honorable Mention and an All-Wesco League 2A/3A First Team selection.

Boston had previously been named to the All-Wesco League 2A/3A Second Team twice, once as a sophomore and again as a junior.

Boston will be joining a Vikings’ program that finished last season 16-16, the third straight year the women’s team at Portland State had posted a win-loss record of .500 or better.

Vikings’ Head Coach Lynn Kennedy marked the signing of Boston with some relief earlier this month. “We have kept our eye on Nakia the past couple of years and she had a breakout year during her senior season,” Kennedy said. “She really impressed us with her ability to score the basketball – whether she is knocking down 3’s or attacking the basketball, Nakia finds a way to score.”

— By Doug Petrowski