LYNNWOOD — Just when it seemed as if Matt Gorman owned the court, Evan Matteson wrested singular control away from his Meadowdale teammate late in the first half.
Gorman scored his team’s first eight points of the second period — including six on a trio of savage put-backs. The 6-foot-9 Matteson interceded by scoring nine of the Mavericks’ next 10 points — and swatting away four Jackson shots on the defensive end of the floor.
The combined antics of the senior pair fueled an 18-2 second quarter blitz, ripped open a close game and propelled unbeaten Meadowdale to a 69-42 victory over Jackson in a Western Conference South Division boy’s basketball game Tuesday night.
“They complement each other really well,” Meadowdale coach Chad McGuire said of the senior duo. “They were crashing the offensive boards and putting themselves in position to score.”
Gorman and Matteson each finished the game with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but took different paths to that result.
After scoring seven points to help Meadowdale (2-0 in league, 4-0 overall) to an 18-16 lead by the end of the first quarter, Gorman almost single-handedly took charge, seizing tough boards for put-backs as the Mavericks surged to a double-digit lead by mid-way through the second period.
Matteson took over, hitting a mid-range jumper and sinking a pair of free throws, before Jackson’s Ricky Kellogg came off the bench and banked in a shot off the glass with one minute, 20 seconds to play in the half to stop Meadowdale’s 12-0 run.
After Meadowdale’s Paul Werner (nine points) made a foul shot Matteson found himself holding the ball 4 feet beyond the top of the circle on the Mavericks’ next possession.
He calmly knocked down Meadowdale’s only 3-point goal of the game. Matteson was fouled after the shot and converted both ends of a one-and-one.
“I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a five-point play,” Matteson laughed of the sequence that resulted in Meadowdale’s 36-18 halftime lead.
“(Matteson’s 3-pointer) didn’t surprise me because he’s one of our best shooters,” McGuire said. “He can score inside and out.”
In the first quarter, Jackson enjoyed 3-pointers by Ryan Todd, who led the Timberwolves with 13 points, and Josh Gootee before Meadowdale clamped down behind Roger O’Neill, Jake Clampitt and Sam Werner.
“Jackson does a great job of spreading the floor, taking the ball off the dribble and then kicking it out to 3-point shooters,” McGuire said. “We’ve got some guards with pretty long levers for arms and they contested every shot, especially in the second quarter.”
Meadowdale’s tough defense on the perimeter, contributed to Jackson (0-1 in league, 1-1 overall) shooting just 13-for-39 (33 percent) from the floor. Matteson’s reach created problems inside.
“When (Matteson) not blocking shots, he’s altering shots,” McGuire said.
Gorman noted the defensive effort of O’Neill who held Jackson’s Brett Kingma in check after the freshman guard scored 32 points — and made four three-pointers — in the Timberwolves’ season opener.
“Roger put up really great defense and used his size the whole game,” Gorman said. “Everyone’s passing the ball well, the guards are moving it around and everybody’s crashing the boards.”
Meadowdale shot a crisp 27-for-51 from the floor (52 percent) and exhibited depth that may prove to be a major concern for opponents.
At Meadowdale H.S.
Jackson162816—42
Meadowdale18181320—69
Jackson — Kingma 7, Todd 13, Gootee 3, Rucker, Koch 5, Oh 2, Sullivan 10, Gay, Kellogg 2, Wishko. Meadowdale — O’Neill 4, Clampitt 3, Nelson 2, S. Werner 2, Gorman 15, Church, P. Werner 9, Carroll 4, Beeson 6, Epstein 6, Hamlett 3, Mattesson 15. 3-point goals — Todd 1, Gootee 1, Matteson 1. J.V. result — Meadowdale 58, Jackson 34. Records — Jackson 0-1 in league, 1-1 overall. Meadowdale 2-0, 4-0.
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