LYNNWOOD — Meadowdale girls basketball earned a runaway 73-38 win over Shorewood on Wednesday night to keep pace for a chance at the Wesco 3A/2A South title this season.
The Mavericks improved to 6-1 in league play (10-5 overall), putting them in range of league leader Archbishop Murphy (15-1 overall, 9-0 league) with five league games left. Shorewood dropped to 4-4 against league opponents and 6-10 overall.
Meadowdale pulled away from Shorewood early by earning a 22-5 lead at the end of the first quarter — spurred in part by pushing in transition off Stormray turnovers and misses. While Shorewood would force more turnovers in the second half and trailed in third-quarter scoring by one point, the deficit and offensive struggles proved too much to overcome.
Junior guard Mia Brockmeyer and sophomore guard Lexi Zardis paced the Mavericks with 22 points each, while Brockmeyer secured a game-high 12 rebounds.
By the end of the game, Meadowdale had amassed 43 rebounds to Shorewood’s 30. Down low, sophomore Lisa Sonko (nine rebounds) and senior Audrey Lucas (seven rebounds) dissuaded Shorewood’s drives to the hole and secured key rebounds to prevent second-chance scores.
Shorewood senior Bridget Cox found her rhythm in the second half, scoring 14 of her 18 points in the final two frames. Seniors Clara Djohan (seven points, nine rebounds) and Rylie Gettmann flashed at times defensively, intercepting Meadowdale passes in the second half primarily.
For Brockmeyer and the Mavericks, playing with purpose in both the half-court and transition is the key.
“We’re a really fast-paced team and when we run, we are very successful,” Brockmeyer said. “We’re very good shooters and we’re fast.”
Meadowdale’s Mia Brockmeyer makes a three point shot during the game against Shorewood on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Indeed, Meadowdale scorched the home nylon to the tune of 10 3-pointers — eight of which came from Brockmeyer and Zardis’ four makes each. The Mavericks also compiled 15 assists on 28 makes, rarely hesitating to pass up decent looks for wide-open shots.
Wednesday marked the second tough defeat in a row for Shorewood, as the Stormrays were coming off a 75-32 loss to Archbishop Murphy last Friday. Head coach Brandon Glasser pointed to falling behind early as the main culprit for another rough night.
“Once we got in a hole, we kind of got away from running our sets… shots weren’t falling and it kind of spiraled at that point,” Glasser said. “But I was proud of our group in the second half.”
In those final two periods, the Stormrays were noticeably more patient in their passing and lowered their turnover total from nine in the first half to five in the second half. Shorewood also stuck to their set plays, which allowed their leading scorer Cox to get to the rim for easier looks.
“That was it, just running our plays and looking for more than the first option. I think that’s what made us stagnant (in the first half)… we were just getting the first shot we saw,” Cox said.
Sitting at four games under .500 as the season winds down, Cox still sees plenty of potential in her team. She believes the answer to whether this team can overcome some recent rough losses is simply a matter of how the Stormrays see each other.
“The biggest thing is trusting each other. Trusting each other to move the ball and find the open looks that we need to be hitting instead of the first ones,” Cox said. “We have our flow and we have our resilience and we have our tempo.”
First-year Meadowdale head coach Benson Sims has commanded the trust of his squad so far. Sims entered this season with the inherent pressure of repeating an 18-3 2024 campaign but credited the poise and experience of his players for the solid encore so far this year.
“I’m a blessed dude to walk into a program like this with ladies who really enjoy playing the game and have ambitious spirit,” Sims said. “This level of play, it’s real. If you lack for a moment, there’s someone that’s trying to drive forward and knock you down.”
Standing in the way of Sims’ Mavericks is Archbishop Murphy, who Meadowdale is set to play on Jan. 30. While the Wildcats took their first matchup this season on Jan. 3, the Mavericks have won five straight since then. Brockmeyer believes the weeks since that 68-58 loss have served to prepare Meadowdale for a rematch.
“We wouldn’t really run the ball in that game and I think we were kind of going for ourselves (against Archbishop Murphy),” Brockmeyer said. “We’ve learned from that and we’ve been sharing the ball more.”
Meadowdale’s Mia Brockmeyer looks for an open teammate to pass to during the game against Shorewood on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Less than a year after missing state by one game in the district playoffs and changing leadership, Meadowdale shows no sign of slumping and continues to make a strong case for being a real postseason contender again.
For now, the Mavericks will need to keep winning if they hope to keep things interesting in the south. They’ll take on Mountlake Terrace on Friday night while Shorewood will look for a bounce-back win at King’s on Thursday night.
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