BELLEVUE — The Meadowdale Mavericks may not have knocked off the top-seeded team in the state Friday night, but they did enough to give themselves confidence heading into Tacoma.
The Garfield Bulldogs received strong all-court games from their stars, and the two-time defending Class 3A high school girls basketball state champions defeated the Mavericks 62-48 in a state regional game at Bellevue College.
“I think we learned that we can compete with the best teams in the state, and that we are one of the best teams in the state,” said Meadowdale junior guard Gia Powell, who poured in 31 points in a losing effort.
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Rakiyah Jackson had 21 points and eight rebounds, Sarah Lessig had 14 points, seven boards and four steals, and Katie Fiso had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists for Garfield (20-1), which received a bye into Thursday’s quarterfinals at the Tacoma Dome.
With the loss eighth-seeded Meadowdale (18-7) will play a round-of-12 game Wednesday at the Tacoma Dome. The Mavericks will face the winner of Saturday’s game between ninth-seeded Bonney Lake and 16th-seeded Kennewick.
Garfield dominated the boards, outrebounding Meadowdale 29-16 and scoring repeatedly on putbacks. That was especially evident in the second quarter, when the Bulldogs turned a 17-15 deficit — Powell scored 13 in the first — into a 32-22 lead. Garfield also swarmed Powell every time she touched the ball after Powell hit two early 3s. Powell, who set a school record with 41 points against Monroe during the District 1 tournament, wasn’t able to get any good looks in the second quarter when the Bulldogs took control.
“I think we started off really well,” Powell said. “We came out pretty strong. We knew Garfield was going to be a tough team and knew they were going to underestimate us, so we wanted to prove them wrong. I think we played pretty well, we just needed to rebound, I think that’s what hurt us the most, letting them get all the boards and the second possessions.”
Powell caught Garfield’s attention after hitting her two quick 3s as Meadowdale jumped out to a 6-1 lead. From the moment the Bulldogs took a timeout 2 minutes, 57 seconds into the game, Powell faced tight defending and constant switches the rest of the way.
“They started off just playing regular (player-to-player defense), and as soon as I started hitting shots they face-guarded me,” Powell said. “I just had to start getting more screens.”
But before the Mavericks had a chance to adjust, the Bulldogs surged ahead. Garfield created separation by scoring five quick points to close out the first half. Jackson hit a pull-up baseline jumper, then Fiso blocked a shot and finished off in transition just before the buzzer to give the Bulldogs a 10-point halftime lead.
Garfield’s lead swelled to as many as 20 in the third quarter before the Mavericks started finding success by getting the ball to Audrey Lucas (seven points) in the post. Then Powell heated back up using an assortment of high-degree-of-difficulty drives and step-back 3s to continue her scoring spree, despite the defensive attention.
“I would say we lost by 14 not playing our best, and I think that we showed that when we’re playing our best we can beat teams like that,” Powell said.
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