Turnovers, lack of offense sink Mavs

Published 8:06 pm Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Meadowdale seniors Matt Hirsch and Torin Dooley combined for 27 points in a 59-48 loss to Shorecrest in a Wesco 3A boys basketball game Jan. 27 at Shorecrest High School.

The defensive-minded Mavericks held Shorecrest senior standout Emmanuel Chibuogwu Jr. to just three points in the first half. But the 6-foot-7 forward sprang loose, scoring 17 of his 20 points in the second half, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter.

“We turned over the ball too much tonight to win,” Meadowdale coach Andy Streit said. “And we didn’t play our normal level of defense. We gave up too many points, but with that said they (the Scots) played very well on offense and Jr. (Chibuogwu Jr.) had a lot to do with that. We can’t allow teams to score in the upper 50s. We don’t score at that level.”

In eight of Meadowdale’s 12 losses, opponents have averaged 60.7 points. In six victories, the Mavericks’ opponents have scored an average of 40.2 points.

“We haven’t put up a lot of points this year and that puts a lot of pressure on our defense,” Streit said.

The Mavericks trailed by as many as 13 points heading into the fourth quarter. But a string of 3-pointers by Hirsch and Dooley helped Meadowdale narrow the deficit to just eight points with 2:30 remaining in regulation. Meadowdale, for the first time, was gaining steam, but the Scots’ fast-scoring five was able to quickly reverse the momentum, thanks in part to a Chibuogwu Jr. two-handed dunk. He went on to score six points in the final four minutes.

The Scots converted 12 of 25 shots in the second half and finished the game shooting 43 percent from the field. It was Shorecrest’s fourth consecutive victory.

Hirsch, who scored a team-high 16 points, gave the Mavericks their only lead of the game early in the first quarter after he knocked down a short-range jump shot to put Meadowdale up 6-5. Dooley scored 11 points and Spencer Linton finished with seven points. The Mavericks converted 8 of 19 shots in the first 16 minutes and trailed 30-20 at halftime.

Meadowdale entered the game having lost five of its six games in the month of January, including a 43-42 loss to Oak Harbor on Jan. 26.

“We learn some lessons from every game and we learned some excellent lessons from the Oak Harbor game,” Streit said. “From a fans’ perspective it was an excellent high school basketball game. You probably couldn’t tell from tonight, but we are playing our best basketball. Oak Harbor is a very good team, but I feel like we played very well.”

Trailing by 10 points late in the third quarter, the Mavericks fought back and took a one-point lead late in the game. However, Oak Harbor’s Michael Washington Jr. scored what proved to be the game winner with six seconds remaining. Meadowdale missed a last-second 3-pointer as time expired.

“We played a great game against Oak Harbor,” Meadowdale’s Linton said. “Our freshman Charlie White played excellent defense on Michael Washington.”

White held Washington Jr. to just three field goals in the second half. White finished with nine rebounds and two steals. Linton scored a team-high 20 points and Dooley chipped in 10 points.

As of Jan. 28, the Mavericks had a half-a-game lead for the sixth and final playoff spot over Everett.

“If we want a playoff spot we’re are going to have to step up and make some varsity plays,” Linton said. “I think everyone is motivated though because once the playoffs start, it’s a new season. Everything before the playoffs doesn’t matter, so we have to start playing better.”