Here is a video interview I did earlier this afternoon with Connor Hamlett, who had a career-best scoring performance while helping the Meadowdale boys basketball team beat North Kitsap.
I’m about to head home. Through Day 1, two local teams are still in the winner’s bracket: the Meadowdale boys and girls. The Lynnwood boys lost but they will get another chance Thursday.
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Final score: Union 60, Lynnwood 41
Lynnwood cut the deficit to five points (37-32) with 5:21 to go, but after that it was all Union, which used its defensive pressure to create easy baskets. It was too much for Lynnwood to handle.
Aaron Matzen (16 points, four rebounds, two steals) and post Simi Fajemisin (13 points, eight rebounds) were the top scorers for Lynnwood (14-13), which plays 10th-ranked Foster (16-8) noon today in a loser-out consolation game. Led by forward Alex Schrempf’s 28 points and eight rebounds, Bellevue routed Foster 69-49 Wednesday.
In addition to its late struggles against Union’s full-court press, Lynnwood shot poorly. It was just 15 of 50 (30 percent) from the field.
At the Tacoma Dome
Lynnwood4141211-41
Union1215726-60
Lynnwood: Bryant 5, Evans, Milne 4, Elder, Daniel 1, Wilson 2, Meinken, Matzen 16, Alexander, Fajemisin 13. Union: Morgan 12, Skelton 24, Spiegelberg 5, Speyer, Ingram-Holmes 6, Sowe 2, Sparks 5, Oslund 4, Saylor 2. 3-point goals-Morgan 1, Skelton 4, Spiegelberg 1, Sparks 1. Records-Lynnwood 14-13. Union 19-6.
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Tacoma News Tribune rankings
Quick score update: Union leads 34-27 against Lynnwood.
Curious where teams were ranked entering this week’s 2A and 3A state tournaments? Check out these Tacoma News Tribune rankings.
Looking at local teams, the Archbishop Murphy girls are No. 2 (2A), the Meadowdale girls are No. 7 (3A) and the Meadowdale boys are No. 9 (3A).
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Halftime score: Union 27, Lynnwood 18
It was a rough first half for Lynnwood, but a nine-point deficit isn’t too bad considering how much the Royals struggled at times.
Lynnwood was just 6 of 25 (24 percent) from the field. Free throws have been a big boost though. Junior post Simi Fajemisin was 6 for 6 at the foul line. The 6-foot-9 Fajemisin leads all players with five rebounds.
After Fajemisin capped his second 2-for-2 trip to the foul line in a 3-minute span, Lynnwood was within six points (18-12). But Union’s Caden Skelton (cool name, by the way) drilled three 3-pointers over the final 1:19 of the second quarter, helping the Titans take a solid lead to the break.
Skelton (3 of 4 from 3-point range) leads everyone with 11 points.
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End of first quarter: Union 12, Lynnwood 4
The T-Dome can be a rough place for shooters. So far it’s been a dreadful venue for Lynnwood.
The Royals missed their first seven field-goal attempts and were just 1 of 11 in the first quarter. Jared Milne made a jump shot with 1:28 to go in the period, finally ending Lynnwood’s drought from the field.
Making matters worse for Lynnwood: It committed five turnovers.
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Lynnwood boys vs. Union
The boys court is running about 40 minutes behind schedule, but the 5 p.m. game finally started.
So far it’s been a little ugly. Lynnwood is 0-for-4 from the field with two airballs; Union is 0-for-3.
Haven’t heard of Union before? It’s a second-year school from southwest Washington.
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Final score: Meadowdale 70-64
Here’s a link to my quick recap of the Meadowdale boys game.
This is pretty interesting: The Meadowdale boys and girls teams will both play Enumclaw tomorrow. Check out the boys and girls brackets. The girls play at 3:30 p.m. Thursday; the boys play at 5 p.m.
And here’s something cool: Video of the Meadowdale vs. North Kitsap game, posted by the Kitsap Sun.
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End of third quarter: Meadowdale 43-31
Meadowdale’s posts (Hamlett and Larson) are tearing up North Kitsap. They combined to score 14 points in the third period, allowing the Mavs to build their biggest lead of the game.
Larson had eight points in the third on four close-range field goals.
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Halftime score: Meadowdale 24, North Kitsap 20
Relying mainly on Hamlett (11 first-half points), Meadowdale twice led by eight points in the second quarter. Hamlett’s basket on an inside spin move with 4:25 to go in the half gave the Mavs a 21-13 advantage.
But after that Meadowdale scored just three points until halftime. It struggled a bit with turnovers, committing five in the second period and nine in the half.
Meadowale is in decent shape considering its season leading scorer, Roger O’Neill, is just 1 of 7 from the field with three points and three turnovers. O’Neill has contributed in other areas, though; he has three assists and three boards.
North Kitsap’s leading scorer is 6-7 center Taylor Hoffer (10 points, five rebounds).
Meadowdale shot 9 of 19 (47.4 percent) from the field; North Kitsap was 9 of 26 (34.6).
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First quarter update: Meadowdale 12, North Kitsap 7
The Mavericks are off to a strong start, thanks in part to guard Khalid Surur. North Kitsap is leaving Surur open on the perimeter and that tactic is backfiring on the Vikings; Surur has already hit two 3s from the left side.
Meadowdale is winning the reboundng battle so far, fueled by 6-foot-7 posts Connor Hamlett and Kris Larson.
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Alright, I’m back in the Tacoma Dome for more state hoops action.
Here’s a quick update on what happened so far: Earlier this morning, the Meadowdale girls kicked off their day with a 40-39 first-round victory against Auburn Mountainview.
Obviously, it was a close one for the Mavericks. The game featured seven lead changes and four ties.
Meadowdale’s leaders were center Anna Molitor (nine points, five rebounds, four blocks), guard Gabi Beyer (seven points, four assists, four steals) and forward Alexis Nugent (six points, five rebounds, one block, one steal).
Meadowdale, ranked No. 7 by the Tacoma News Tribune, will play the Franklin/Enumclaw winner in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Right now I’m getting ready to cover a first-round boys game: Meadowdale vs. North Kitsap. Meadowdale, the District 1 champion, is ranked ninth; North Kitsap is not ranked.
Coming up later, I’ll be here for the 5 p.m. boys game, Lynnwood vs. No. 4 Union.
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