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Snohomish girls spoil Meadowdale’s league title hopes

Published 11:30 pm Wednesday, January 31, 2024

By Taras McCurdie

Snohomish’s Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles (34) dives for the ball during a girls basketball game between Snohomish and Meadowdale at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood, Washington, on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2023. Snohomish won, 57-53. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
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Snohomish’s Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles (34) dives for the ball during a girls basketball game between Snohomish and Meadowdale at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood, Washington, on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2023. Snohomish won, 57-53. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Snohomish’s Kendall Hammer (3) moves with the ball during a game against Meadowdale on Wednesday at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood. Snohomish won 57-53. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Meadowdale’s Gia Powell (2) shoots the ball during a game against Snohomish on Wednesday at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Snohomish’s Sienna Capelli (13) moves with the ball during a girls basketball against Meadowdale on Wednesday at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Snohomish’s Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles (34) dives for the ball during a game against Snohomish on Wednesday at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Snohomish’s Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles (34) shoots the ball during a game against Meadowdale on Wednesday at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Meadowdale’s Audrey Lucas (35) looks to shoot during a game against Snohomish on Wednesday at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Snohomish’s Sienna Capelli (13) shoots the ball during a game against Meadowdale on Wednesday at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood. (Annie Barker / The Herald)

LYNNWOOD — The Snohomish High School girls basketball team downed a challenging Meadowdale squad on the road, 57-53, causing a shift atop the Wesco 3A/2A standings heading into the final days of the regular season.

Meadowdale (17-3 overall, 10-2 league) would have situated itself in the driver’s seat for its first league title since 2007 with a win. But Snohomish (13-5, 10-2) had other plans, ending the Mavericks’ 10-game win streak and placing itself alongside Meadowdale and Archbishop Murphy as one of three teams with just two losses in Wesco 3A/2A behind first-place Arlington (11-1 league).

Panthers sophomore guard Sienna Capelli delivered a game-high 20 points, and junior forward Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles was a workhorse in the paint contributing 18. Snohomish also limited Meadowdale senior point guard and Brown University-commit Gia Powell to 16 points, including a scoreless first quarter.

“It was so exciting,” Gildersleeve-Stiles said about the win. “… We were playing hard and we were ready to win. We came here and executed it, and I think that’s really great.”

The first quarter belonged to Snohomish. The Panthers opened on a 19-3 run and took a 24-12 lead into the second. But the Mavericks woke up and scored 12 unanswered points to tie the game, and they eventually pulled to within 31-29 at halftime.

The second half was what Snohomish coach Ken Roberts called a “dogfight.” Meadowdale came out of the third with a 42-40 advantage, and both teams traded leads in the fourth. With Snohomish clinging to a tight 53-50 lead in the final minute, Capelli provided a critical bucket and two free throws to keep the Panthers in front as Powell couldn’t get a pair of 3-pointers to fall during an edge-of-your-seat finish.

“Our kids executed the game plan,” Roberts said. “… It’s a good win for us, but honestly when you get down to the last week of the regular season, I think everybody’s kind of ready for districts to start.

“This (win) clinches that we have one of the top four spots so we have a bye in the first round, which is good. … But there’s a lot more that we’re hoping to do moving forward too.”

Audrey Lucas had 12 points and Kaiya Dotter and Lexi Zardis each added 11 for Meadowdale.

The Mavericks were playing without 6-foot-1 junior post Samantha Medina, who coach Kevin Thompson said the team found out Tuesday fractured her hand.

“We didn’t get much of a chance to adjust until the last minute,” Thompson said. “But we played (a) much smaller lineup, a lot of guards and a lot of really young girls, and they played really super tough. … (Snohomish is) a heck of a good team. We knew it. They’ve been playing awesome coming in.”

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