LYNNWOOD — Eryn Jones may be just 5-feet, 8 inches tall, but the Meadowdale senior guard was head and shoulders above any Edmonds-Woodway foe she encountered at the annual Rubber Chicken match between Meadowdale and rival Edmonds-Woodway.
The Portland State signee scored the contest’s first 10 points en route to a 20-point performance, as the Mavericks crushed the Warriors 75-49 at Meadowdale High School on Friday.
Junior guard Hanna Fjortoft added 17 points as the shorter and quicker Mavericks thoroughly dominated Edmonds-Woodway from the opening minutes.
“They did great,” Meadowdale coach Dan Taylor said of Jones and Fjortoft. “They used their talents and their gifts to help us offensively and defensively they just got after it, using their speed.”
Jones wasted no time in showing why she is one of the top players in the area. In the first two minutes, she hit a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play, interspersing them with two layups, the second of which a stylish reverse as Meadowdale ran out to a quick 10-0 lead.
“The last few games we’ve been coming out not as hard and trying to pick it up in the second half, so we tried to come out hard in the beginning,” Jones said. “We just came out hard and intense (in) the first half (tonight).”
That intensity included a full-court press from the opening minute, as Meadowdale harassed Edmonds-Woodway into turning the ball over 10 times in each half, leading to several easy transition baskets.
“We lack height so we have to (work) at different areas, like quickness,” Jones said. “We have to press and trap all we can to get all of our points.”
Fjortoft converted a steal into an easy layup to run Meadowdale’s lead to 12-0 three minutes into the game before Edmonds-Woodway’s Abby Butler scored to put the Warriors on the board.
“We expected it,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Wayne Edwards said of Meadowdale’s tenacious defense. “We knew they were going to press. They are going to press everybody … They are a very good, quick basketball team.”
When the Warriors did get the ball across half-court, Meadowdale played tight permimeter defense around their own basket, allowing few open looks. The Warriors experienced limited success when they were able to feed the ball to the 6-foot Butler in the post, but did little to establish their perimeter shooting.
Meadowdale, on the other hand, knocked down several open 3-pointers and numerous short jumpers. Jones and Fjortoft were also able to penetrate the often-porous Edmonds-Woodway interior defense seemingly at will as the Mavericks took a 40-26 lead into halftime.
Meadowdale again brought the full-court press following the intermission after letting up somewhat in a second quarter that saw the Warriors outscore the Mavericks 16-15.
“Our pressure helps us build intensity,” Taylor said. “Our intensity dropped in the second quarter, so we had to pick it up.”
And pick it up Meadowdale did, holding Edmonds-Woodway scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half and outscoring the Warriors 21-6 in the third quarter.
With the game’s outcome all but decided, both coaches gave their regulars a break and emptied the benches throughout the duration of the fourth quarter.
Butler led all scorers with 21 points. Teammate Jennifer Singh, who was Edmonds-Woodway’s only consistent outside threat, chipped in 10 points.
Julia Fjortoft added 12 points for Meadowdale, which hopes to improve on last year’s sixth-place finish at the 3A state tournament.
Edmonds-Woodway, on the other hand, just wants to improve.
“We take this as a learning tool,” Edwards said. “We’ll go back to practice and we’ll work on the things that did not work for us tonight. We’ll work on the things to make it more effective as a team defensively and offensively.”
At Meadowdale H.S.
E-W1016617—49
Meadowdale25152114—75
Meadowdale — Beyer, Carlow, Coronacion 6, H. Fjortoft 17, J. Fjortoft 12, Jones 20, Landa, Molitor 4, Nugent, C. O’Neill 5, M. O’Neill 3, Streit 8, Zickefoose. E-W — Butler 21, Donaldson, Kenney 3, Lauber 3, Lee 4, Olson 2, Petty, Schultz 2, Shen, Singh 10, Stafford, Wellington 2, Albertson. 3-point goals—Singh 2, Butler 1, Kenney 1, Jones 2, J. Fjortoft 1, C. O’Neill 1, M. O’Neill 1. Records—E-W 0-1 league, 0-3 overall. Meadowdale 1-0, 4-0.
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