Meadowdale girls left wishing for more in playoff loss to Bellevue

TACOMA — The Mavericks never stopped believing they were in the fight. Down 14 to Bellevue at halftime of the WIAA Girls 3A Round of 12, Meadowdale girls basketball entered the third quarter motivated to cut the deficit and give themselves a chance to steal the game.

The No. 8 seed Mavericks (17-9) scored on two of their first possessions of the second half, but the No. 17 seed Wolverines (23-6) responded both times. Bellevue kept its foot on the gas to close out a convincing 69-54 state tournament win at the Tacoma Dome on Wednesday.

Final: Bellevue wins 69-54

Audrey Lucas (28p) was the only Meadowdale player that could consistently score down the stretch, and the Mavericks season ends here.

The Wolverines advance to the quarterfinals.@HeraldNetPreps

— Joe Pohoryles (@Joe_Poho) March 5, 2025

Bellevue advances to the quarterfinals against No. 2 seed North Thurston (27-1) on Thursday. For Meadowdale, it’s the end of the road for 2024-25.

“Miracles don’t happen on this court,” said Mavericks coach Benson Sims, who finished his first season leading the program. “What looks like a miracle starts in the beginning of December, and it’s worked all the way to March. And in March, what you do is fortify yourself for moments, and in the moment, you’re able to tap into whatever work puts you in position to be there.

“But this was a fun experience. I got a great group of girls. … I think Meadowdale has a good future.”

Senior Audrey Lucas scored a game-high 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Operating in the low post, she was the only Meadowdale player able to catch a consistent rhythm. Junior Mia Brockmeyer (11 points) connected on three 3-pointers.

Bellevue freshman Dilynn Johnson scored 26 points for the Wolverines, who grabbed as many offensive rebounds as they did defensive rebounds (22 each) to generate 23 second-chance points. Comparatively, the Mavericks had just 10 offensive boards and scored four such points.

The two sides remained within a couple of points of each other for most of the first quarter, but a couple of Meadowdale turnovers allowed Bellevue to pull ahead. A 3-pointer from sophomore Athena LaBow put the Wolverines ahead by six entering the second.

Lucas got more involved in the second, scoring six straight points in the post, and Brockmeyer knocked down a couple of 3s, but the Wolverines’ efficiency on the offensive glass (10 offensive rebounds by halftime) and swarming defense allowed them to storm ahead 41-27 at half.

Some halftime numbers:

– Bellevue out-rebounding Meadowdale 23-13 (including 10 offensive reb. to 4)

– 2nd-chance points: 13-2 in favor of Bellevue

– Bellevue shooting 48.5% from field, Meadowdale 37%

Tells the story of the game so far @HeraldNetPreps

— Joe Pohoryles (@Joe_Poho) March 5, 2025

“I don’t know how much we were down at half, but we still thought we were in it,” Lucas said. “You can come back from any (deficit) at halftime. Even though the scores weren’t close, you can still come back and chip away at that, so we had faith that we could come back.”

After some back-and-forth scoring in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter, Bellevue got back to where it left off, capitalizing on a lazy pass from Meadowdale and then scoring on a putback layup on the other side. On the next possession, the Wolverines forced another turnover, then grabbed three offensive rebounds in a row before scoring again to go up by 18.

“I think this is Bellevue’s bread and butter. Like that’s what they do,” Sims said. “You prepare the best you can for it, and then when you get in front of it, sometimes execution doesn’t work out in your favor.”

Lucas scored eight more points in the back half of the quarter, but that was the only scoring for Meadowdale. The margin remained the same through the final minutes, until the Mavericks bench was subbed on with 1:48 remaining and scored a some layups to make it a 69-54 final.

Meadowdale won 12 of their previous 14 games entering the state tournament, but it closed out with losses to No. 1 seed Central Valley at Regionals last Friday (78-64) and against Bellevue on Wednesday. The team was happy to reach the state tournament, but was left wanting more.

“Obviously, we wanted to get further,” senior Payton Fleishman said. “We got through a couple of really tough games, but we just didn’t get where we really wanted to go.”

There was no miracle for the Mavericks on Wednesday, but the work to create “what looks like one,” as Sims put it, will start this offseason.