Meadowdale edges Jackson

EVERETT – It seems logical to assume that the Meadowdale girls basketball team is going to lose a game someday.

It also seems logical to assume that it is not going to happen during the 2004-05 regular season. The best shot at a Western Conference South Division loss for the Mavericks might have been Friday night. Jackson gave the Mavericks all they could handle before falling 62-58 at home to Meadowdale, which improved to 12-0 in the division and 14-0 overall. The Mavericks, who won the Class 3A state title last season, pushed their winning streak to 30 games and have won 69 of their last 71.

“To play so close with a top team in state like Meadowdale – it shows us that we belong up there somewhere, too,” said Jackson coach Jeannie Thompson, who starts two freshmen and a sophomore. “Hopefully we’ll get there at the end of the season.”

Jackson (9-3, 11-3), which had won seven straight, fell into third place in the division behind Mountlake Terrace (10-2, 12-2). Meadowdale, ranked fourth in the most recent WashingtonPreps.com poll, faces the Hawks on Friday. The Mavs beat Terrace 63-39 on Dec. 17.

The lone constant during Meadowdale’s past four seasons – aside from endline-to-endline defense for virtually every second of every game – has been point guard Ashley Fenimore. The team’s only senior was a bit out of character on Friday.

Arguably one of the state’s top pure point guards, Fenimore did what Blair has been begging her to do for four years: She found a selfish bone in her body. Fenimore scored a career-high 21 points in addition to her standard seven assists. She scored the final five points of the first half when it appeared Jackson might be ready to pull away for an upset. Fenimore also closed out the game by scoring five of her team’s final seven points.

That’s just the sort of thing Blair’s been looking for.

“I’ve wanted Ashley to be an offensive player for four years,” said Blair, whose team beat top-ranked Garfield on Jan. 17. “This was exciting tonight for her to show that. She’s a very talented offensive player, but people never see it because she likes to defer to other people. But, I think she sensed her team needed her.”

The 21 points was not part of Fenimore’s plans for the night.

“I wasn’t really looking at my offensive game,” said Fenimore, who made eight of 10 field goals, including two of three 3-point shots.

“(Teammates’) shots weren’t falling, so I was just trying to adjust and be an offensive threat.”

Early on, it seemed Jackson had learned something from its 61-47 loss to the Mavericks on Dec. 17.

Meadowdale missed its first eight field goal attempts and both of its free throw attempts as Jackson opened with a 6-0 lead. Meadowdale used a 9-2 run to take its first lead, 13-12, into the second quarter.

Megan Forbes’ halftime buzzer beater gave Jackson a 28-26 halftime edge.

Freshman Eryn Jones scored eight points in the third quarter to help the Mavericks outscore Jackson 21-11 for a 47-39 lead heading into the fourth. Meadowdale maintained a margin of at least five points in the fourth until freshman point guard Kristi Kingma hit a 3-point shot to complete the scoring with 1.5 seconds to go. Kingma and fellow freshman guard Ashly Bruns each scored 13 points.

Senior forward Sam McCracken led Jackson with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Jones contributed 15 points and four steals.

At Mill Creek

Meadowdale13132115-62

Jackson12161119-58

Meadowdale-Woods 5, Fenimore 21, Jones 15, Moehrle 4, Rohrbach 5, Wood 8, Smith 4. Jackson-Sabay 2, Todd 4, Kingma 13, Forbes 4, Bruns 13, Addington 7, McCracken 15. 3-point goals-Fenimore 2, Jones 2, Todd 1, Kingma 1, Bruns 2. JV score-Jackson 42, Meadowdale 38. Records-Meadowdale 12-0, 14-0. Jackson 9-3, 11-3.