LYNNWOOD — It took a while for the rain to start, but you could see a storm was brewing.
Smothering defense on one front. Dominating inside attack on another. Sweet 3-point shots coming in from yet another direction.
Meadowdale’s second-half perfect storm washed away Ferndale 73-50 Wednesday night in the first round of the Northwest District 3A girls basketball playoffs.
The Mavericks led by four points early in the second half before all the fronts collided in their home gym. With each phase of their game finally clicking at the same time, the Mavericks used a 28-4 run in the second half to put themselves one victory away from Meadowdale’s ninth straight state playoff appearance.
Unhappy with some breaks in the first-half weather, Mavericks coach Karen Blair kickstarted the storm during halftime.
"Karen told us, ‘This is your last game on your home court — you’ve got to play with pride and play together,’ " said 6-foot-1 senior forward Quinn Brewe, who tallied 25 points and six rebounds. "I think we did that in the second half."
The Mavericks (20-1) will play Squalicum at 8 p.m. Friday at Mount Vernon High School for a trip to the Class 3A state playoffs and a spot in the district title game. Ferndale (10-11) must win three straight to secure the district’s third and final state playoff spot.
One of the creators of Wednesday’s storm, strangely enough, is a boater. Meadowdale 6-foot center Justin Lewis, who recently made a verbal commitment to row for the University of Miami on a full-ride scholarship, kept the Mavericks afloat for their 20th win by contributing nine of her 15 points and six of her nine rebounds in the first half.
"She played very well," said Blair, who has not lost a district playoff game since Arlington’s Kayla Burt went wild in the 2001 district championship game. "She’s working hard and playing with a lot of confidence."
Ferndale (10-11) turned the ball over 11 times in the first 12 minutes, but good things happened for the Eagles when they held onto the ball. Despite seven turnovers in the first quarter, Ferndale managed 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Eagles scoring ace Liz McCarrell scored nine of her 13 points in the quarter, but the Mavericks managed a nine-point lead thanks to Brewe’s 13 first-quarter points.
Anne Martin and Kristine Marte each hit a 3-point shot during a 9-0 run that put the Mavericks up 37-22 with 3:56 remaining in the second.
Ferndale took advantage of three straight Meadowdale misses from behind the 3-point line to score the last seven points of the half.
"At halftime we talked about how we needed to step it up and communicate more on defense," said Lewis, who entered the game averaging 5.8 points. "We weren’t working very well as a team. Karen pointed out some of our weaknesses."
Martin, who scored 16 points, led a 19-2, third-quarter run with three 3-point baskets en route to a 58-37 advantage.
Ferndale’s Taria Cicchitti scooped in a shot, but the Mavericks scored the game’s next nine points to take a 67-39 lead with 4:42 remaining.
Ferndale—Dahl 11, Cicchitti 7, McKeon 3, Johnson 2, McCarrell 13, Buckland 4, B. Finkbonner 4, S. Finkbonner 6. Meadowdale—Marte 5, Martin 16, Moehrle 10, Brewe 25, Lewis 15 Kosmides 2. 3-point goals—Marte 1, Martin 4, Moehrle 2. Records—Ferndale 10-11. Meadowdale 20-1. |
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