Mavs play for title

Published 9:00 pm Friday, March 5, 2004

TACOMA – Meadowdale senior post Quinn Brewe remembers watching the Mavericks’ last state championship game in 2000.

"I watched it on TV when I was in eighth grade," Brewe said of Meadowdale’s victory over Blanchet to win the Class 3A girls basketball title.

Tonight Brewe and her four fellow seniors will get their chance at the championship after defeating Chief Sealth 72-64 in a semifinal game Friday night in the Tacoma Dome.

Meadowdale relied on speed and experience to beat a Chief Sealth team which featured three 6-foot-4 players and one that was 6-1. Led by the inside presence of Brewe and the outside shooting of senior Anne Martin, the Mavericks never trailed after taking a 3-2 lead early in the first quarter.

"This team has worked really hard all year to get here," Meadowdale coach Karen Blair said. "They’ve worked through the ups and downs of a season and now its paying off.”

After placing fourth in 2001 and 2003 and taking fifth place in 2002, the senior class of Martin, Brewe, Ashley Fenimore, Kristine Marte and Ashleigh Graham will take its first crack at a title. The Mavericks (25-1), who are playing in their third championship game in six years, will take on Rainer Beach, 60-59 winners over Clarkston in Friday’s other semifinal, at 9 p.m. tonight. Chief Sealth (24-6) will play Clarkston for third place at 3:30 p.m.

Despite the supreme size advantage held by Chief Sealth, the Ladyhawks started three freshman compared to five senior starters for Meadowdale. Chief Sealth coach Ray Willis felt that lack of experience played a major role in his team’s loss.

"Some of it was youth, some of it was the pressure of the state tournament," Willis said. "Meadowdale is like a well-oiled machine, they know how to win. They out-hustled us and played the game on a whole other level than us."

It was evident early on that speed would be Meadowdale’s strategy to combat Sealth’s size. Quick cuts and superior footwork enabled Brewe and Graham to get down low for easy lay-ins and lots of rebounds. When the two weren’t making baskets, they were getting fouled and going to the free throw line.

Brewe scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the first half alone, making 7 of 10 free throws.

"I knew since they were big I had to use my quickness," said the Seattle Pacific-bound Brewe, who finished with 27 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots in the game. "I knew if I could get past them they would get into foul trouble."

Fenimore patrolled the perimeter and threw quick passes to beat the defense and give her teammates wide-open looks at the basket. Fenimore had a game-high five assists with only one turnover in the game.

Meadowdale outscored Chief Sealth 17-8 in the second quarter to take a commanding 39-23 lead into halftime.

"We helped each other a lot on defense," Fenimore said. "We had Quinn in front and someone tail-side the entire game. Karen told us to go in confident and not to fear any team."

Martin overcame her second consecutive game with early foul trouble to score 17 points in just over 19 minutes of play, including going 4-for-9 from beyond the three point arc. Graham finished with seven points and seven rebounds for Meadowdale.

Chief Sealth was led by Meme Lewis-Roberts, who scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Brenee Mullen scored 13 points and had 13 boards for the Ladyhawks, while teammate Regina Rogers had nine points and 11 rebounds

At Tacoma