Meadowdale guard shows her grit

Published 10:59 pm Wednesday, March 5, 2008

SEATTLE — No matter what, Hanna Fjortoft was determined to play.

Sure, she was on crutches last week after injuring her left ankle in the district playoffs. But after completing four therapy sessions and getting through most of a practice Tuesday, it was time for the true test: Could the junior guard help the Meadowdale girls basketball team at the Class 3A state tournament?

During a layup drill Wednesday before Meadowdale’s first-round game against Lakes, the usually fast Fjortoft moved noticeably slow. She bravely smiled and high-fived teammates, but her pain was obvious.

Instead of starting, like usual, Fjortoft came off the bench. Less than a minute after entering the game midway through the first quarter, she swished a 3-point shot from the corner.

Shooting was manageable but chasing opponents across the court was a more difficult task. After the game, Fjortoft described the pain.

“It kind of felt like my Achilles’ (tendon) was bleeding. Pushing off was pretty hard,” she said.

That’s the problem with Fjortoft’s particular ankle sprain, which, amazingly, is the first of her basketball career. It’s a high sprain. That means it generally takes longer to heal than a normal sprain.

“I decided even if it hurts I’m going to try to play through it,” said Fjortoft.

And she did. Fjortoft was on the court for a bit less than 12 minutes of the 32-minute game, which Meadowdale lost 59-56.

Providing a lift with her outside shooting, she scored eight points and also had two rebounds. Her 3-pointer with 25 seconds to go cut Lakes’ lead to 57-54. About 15 seconds later she had a potential game-tying 3 blocked by a Lakes foe.

“She did enough,” Meadowdale coach Dan Taylor said after the game.

Fjortoft will try to gut it out again this morning, when Meadowdale hopes to avoid elimination in a loser-out clash against Bainbridge.

Said Fjortoft, “Even though we’re down, we just need to get past the (first-round loss). It was a really good effort.”

Meadowdale’s sea of white: Hundreds of screaming, energized teenagers showed up at Hec Ed for the Meadowdale girls team’s game against Lakes. The rowdy, color-coordinated Meadowdale students — all but a few wore in white T-shirts and many of the boys wore white headbands — packed two sections of the lower bleachers and outnumbered Lakes fans about 8-to-1. After the game (Meadowdale lost 59-56) the Mavericks’ fans headed to KeyArena to watch their school’s boys squad play Mark Morris.

A victory of historical proportions: Auburn Riverside broke the 3A tourney record for largest margin of victory Wednesday in its 78-21 first-round victory over Bainbridge. Auburn Riverside’s 57-point triumph eclipsed the previous record margin of 50 points, shared by two teams: Hanford (1987) and Rainier Beach (1988).

Top-ranked Riverside, the defending state champ, also tied the single-game team assists record. The Ravens’ 25 assists matched the total tallied in 1999 by West Valley of Yakima.

Point guard Mercedes Wetmore led Riverside with 11 assists. Her total tied the individual single-game record, originally set by Woodway’s Carol Olsen in 1984.

What a half!: Auburn Riverside’s Katie Grad, a Washington State University recruit, had an incredible first half against Bainbridge. The 5-foot-8 senior guard scored 20 points, making 7 of 10 field-goal attempts (including two 3-pointers) and all four of her free-throw shots. Grad also had three steals, two rebounds and two assists before halftime, propelling Riverside to a 42-14 lead by the intermission. With her team comfortably ahead, she played less than six minutes and attempted one shot in the second half.

Matteson nearly triples season average: Meadowdale’s Evan Matteson would have happily traded a big game for a first-round win, but the 6-foot-9 senior post was a major reason the Mavericks were able to keep the game close against third-ranked Lakes.

Matteson, who came into the game averaging 8.7 points, scored a season-high 21 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds before fouling out late in the game.

He did the most damage from long range, draining four of five three-point attempts. Matteson was 7-for-9 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.

“He played really well,” said Meadowdale coach Chad McGuire. “It’s fun watching him out there. He was knocking down outside shots, then he’d go inside and get a put back. It was fun to watch.”

Long-time friends, possible Saturday adversaries: After his team beat Meadowdale, Lakes coach Jo Jo Rodriguez stuck around to watch Rainier Beach defeat Peninsula in the next game of the afternoon.

Rodriguez was interested in the game not only because top-ranked Rainier Beach and Lakes have a chance to meet up in Saturday’s championship game, but because he and Vikings coach Mike Bethea share a friendship that dates back to the 1970s.

Rodriguez and Bethea were roommates at Yakima Valley Community College and Central Washington University, and are now fans of each other’s teams. Well, most of the time anyway.

“I pull for Mike when I’m not playing him, and when I am playing him I pull for me,” Rodriguez said with a smile.

Hot shooting Chieftains: Columbia River set a 3A tournament record in its upset win over Mercer Island by shooting 73.9 percent from the field. East Bremerton established the previous record shooting 67.3 percent against Juanita in 1973.

Herald Writer John Boyle contributed to this report.