Meadowdale girls earn 13th straight trip to state
Published 11:24 pm Saturday, March 1, 2008
ARLINGTON — Meadowdale took, perhaps, a more circuitous route than the Mavericks would have liked to the 2008 Class 3A state girls basketball tournament.
But Meadowdale is now headed to Washington state’s version of the big dance for the 13th year in a row.
Eryn Jones had 22 points and Alli Streit added 11 for the third-ranked Mavericks, who defeated Shorecrest 62-39 in a 3A District 1 winner-to-state/loser out game Saturday night at Arlington High School.
The Mavericks had to rebound from an upset loss to Ferndale in Thursday’s district championship game in order to advance to state.
“We felt like we let one slip by us, but you know, that’s what second chances are all about,” Meadowdale coach Dan Taylor said. “We took that opportunity and we ran with it.”
The Mavericks’ tenacious defense and quickness overmatched the Scots.
“We knew we had to come out with a lot of intensity because Shorecrest hasn’t made it this far in a long time,” Streit said. “I knew they wanted it just as bad as we did.”
During the two regular season meetings between the two teams, Meadowdale won by margins of 30 and 35 points. The Mavericks won handily again Saturday, despite playing without second-leading scorer Hanna Fjortoft, who did not dress after injuring her ankle in the district title game against Ferndale.
“It was a lot different — Hannah speeds up the game a lot,” Streit said. “Our team really pulled together.”
Taylor lauded the efforts of Danica Coronacion (six points, 10 rebounds), Gabi Beyer (a key third-quarter 3-pointer) and Streit, who stepped up for the Mavericks in Fjortoft’s absence.
“We wanted (Coronacion) to step up and she hit some key buckets,” Taylor said. “Gabi Beyer did a great job getting some great assists.”
Shorecrest coach Jon Rasmussen was pleased with his team’s play this season.
“I feel very proud — we were picked seventh in league this year,” he said. “We got pretty much no respect all year and to be one game away from state, that’s kudos to those kids. They’re awesome — they battled and over achieved, and to go 16-10 is awesome.”
At Arlington H.S.
Shorecrest114159—39
Meadowdale17141417 — 62
Shorecrest—.Schrote, Tseng 9, Hagood 8, Riordan 14, Towles 2, Axelson 2, Glesener, McCorkell 3, Schade, Hoffman 1. Meadowdale—Coronacion 6, J. Fjortoft 4, Jones 22, Molitor 5, Streit 11, Zickefoose, Nugent, Lillquist 2, Beyer 3, O’Neill, Carlow 9, . 3-point goals—Jones 1, Tseng 1, Riordon 1, Beyer 1. Carlow 2, Streit 1, McCorkell 1. Records—Shorecrest 16-10. Meadowdale 21-4.
