NWC Team Previews – 1A – Nooksack Valley Pioneers

Here I will be continuing a new series of articles, featuring team previews for each team in the Northwest Conference. Not every team will have their own article, as I will be combining those teams in which I don’t have much information on. I will be dividing this up by class, then by team within the NWC. The next team up is the Nooksack Valley Pioneers.

Nooksack Valley showed a lot of potential on the court last year. They had their ups and their downs but, overall they grew a lot as a team. They were very, very young last season. In fact, they only had 1 player graduate so almost every single role player will return for the year. They went 6-12 last season. During district play, they beat Meridian 58-36 to advance to the semi finals where they lost to Blaine 37-58. They are going to be a team to watch, with many key players who could have breakout years.

Graduated: Dawson Kimball

Returning: Bennett DeLange Bennett DeLange 6'2" | SG Nooksack Valley | 2023 WA (’23), Caden Heutink (’25), Cory Olney (’25), Ayden Roper (’23), Colton Lentz (’25), Brady Ackerman Brady Ackerman 6'4" | PF Nooksack Valley | 2025 State WA (’25), Jorgen Vigre (’24), Joey Brown (’24), Wayne Silves (’24), Tristian Kamphouse (’25)

Breakout player: Brady Ackerman Brady Ackerman 6'4" | PF Nooksack Valley | 2025 State WA Other breakout players: Bennett DeLange Bennett DeLange 6'2" | SG Nooksack Valley | 2023 WA , Ayden Roper

Bennett DeLange

WL State

43 Pos

6'2" | SG | 2023 Nooksack Valley  |  Hoop Vision NW

Bennett is a great facilitator on the court, one of the top ones in the NWC in my eyes. He controls the pace of the game extremely well. He plays slow and smooth, yet quick at the same time. He attacks the rim effectively being able to contain his dribble through defenders. He has the ability to stop on a dime to pull up and hit the mid-range shot, or he can put his head down and get to the bucket with ease. He utilizes contact to his advantage, being able to adjust mid-air easily. The pick and roll is something DeLange excels in, especially with Ackerman giving him solid screens. Bennett will lead this Pioneer team this season and they could surprise a lot of people.

Ayden Roper

6'5"  |  SF  |  2023 Nooksack Valley HS

Ayden is a player who I really think will turn heads this season on the court for the Pioneers. Ayden has a great frame standing at 6’5″ and has started to show off his athleticism over the summer by dunking in multiple AAU games over the summer. He’s shown a lot ore than that over the summer, as his game is starting to look more complete. He runs the floor hard on both sides of the ball and consistently hits his mid-range shots. His deep shot falls when he’s left open too, so defenders need to remember to get a hand out. As Bennett and Ayden are some of the few seniors this team will have, both will take a leadership role this season as well.

Brady Ackerman

96 State

5 Pos

6'4" | PF | 2025 Nooksack Valley

As I said in my 2025 rankings update article, Brady is a beast on the basketball court. He plays aggressive. He uses his body to his advantage very well, out bodying many opposing players. He reads the ball coming off the rim very good, grabbing rebounds with ease. Offensively, he has a plethora of post moves he can put on display. He runs the court too, filling the correct lanes often.  Ackerman hits the midrange shot consistently as well, forcing defenders to be aware at all times. He’s poised for a breakout season this year for the team.

With almost everyone returning, I think Nooksack will show a lot of growth since last season. All the players have had the chance to grow their chemistry on and off the court and I think that is extremely beneficial for them all. As most of them will be back yet again next year, this season could be just a sneak peak to what their potential could be. I can see them making a solid run deep into the season, maybe even sneaking into the 1A state tournament.