It doesn’t get much better than 37-3.
No high school in the state can boast a better combined record than that of the Meadowdale boys and girls basketball teams. Those marks will be put to the test this week when the Northwest District 3A basketball tournaments begin.
The two sets of Mavericks have much in common, including their first-round opponents. The girls will play Ferndale at home on Wednesday, and the boys will play Ferndale in the same gym a day later. Both games tip off at 7:30 p.m.
“We’ve always looked at the girls program as a model of what you want to be like,” said second-year boys coach Chad McGuire, whose team reached the state semifinals last year. “Our programs are very close and very supportive of each other.”
It is common to see players from one Meadowdale team at the other’s game when the two teams are not playing on the same night. Both take pride in their defense and have numerous players who can score. The combination made both 3A teams nearly unbeatable in a Western Conference South Division that is predominantly 4A. The top-ranked girls went 18-0 in the division and 19-1 overall, losing only to Snohomish, currently ranked eighth in Class 4A.
The boys won their first 12 division games, finishing 17-1 in the South to win their first league title since 1987. The eighth-ranked boys (18-2 overall) lost only to Shorewood and fifth-ranked Squalicum this season. The Mavericks would get a second shot at Squalicum in the district title game on Feb. 28 if both teams win their first two tournament games. The top three teams will earn berths to the Class 3A state playoffs, which begin March 3 at the Tacoma Dome.
“I have a lot of respect for Chad and his coaches for what they are doing,” girls coach Karen Blair said. “It’s an exciting time for the school.”
While Blair has been there many times before, this is all relatively new to the boys.
The girls have placed no worse than seventh at state the last seven seasons and have been a state power since reaching the state playoffs for the first time in 1993. Prior the boys’ meteoric rise last season to the state semifinals – where they lost to a Rainier Beach team considered by many to be the best team ever in the state – Meadowdale boys basketball state playoff history amounted to one loss in 1978.
“I knew we could be competitive and have a good record,” McGuire said. “But, I think it was a very big accomplishment to finish 17-1 in a very tough league. Our guys deserve a lot of credit for having concentration and being ready to play every night.”
Big guy blues: When the Mariner boys basketball team played Edmonds-Woodway on Friday, much of the game came down to which big guy could avoid the whistle. Mariner 6-foot-8 forward Tommy Craddock and E-W 6-foot-6 forward Jason Hopkins have both spent a good amount of time on the bench with foul trouble this season. Craddock avoided it on Friday, and Mariner won 52-44. Hopkins spent much of the second quarter watching Craddock score seven of his 16 points as Mariner pulled away for good. Hopkins, an aggressive defender much like Craddock, fouled out with six seconds remaining.
“I don’t think the refs like big guys,” kidded Craddock. “No, they call what they see. You can’t do anything about it.”
Craddock’s recent dip in frequent foul miles has led to more Mariner wins. Craddock scored only 30 combined points during a Mariner four-game losing streak that put their postseason hopes in question. Lately he’s been around for the final buzzer. He scored 38 points in two victories last week and has led Mariner on a current four-game winning streak.
“Our big fella was in foul trouble and only playing about eight minutes a game,” Mariner coach Dexter Griffen said of the losing streak. “Tommy Craddock has stepped up offensively like he always has defensively.”
Coach on the floor: Like most coaches, Archbishop Murphy girls basketball coach Bill Kelley constantly yells instructions to his team. He’s glad he’s got an experienced point guard like Jamie Lyons, because he admits the girls probably don’t hear him as often as he’d like.
“When you get in a big game, the kids can’t hear you,” said Kelley, whose team will play Cedar Park Christian in the first round of the Class A tri-district playoffs on Saturday. “They don’t even know what the coach is doing over there on the sideline. They just hope you’re not yelling at them. So you really need that leadership on the floor.”
Unwanted rest: If Lake Stevens wrestler Lester Brown had competed any less at the 4A Region I Championships over the weekend, meet organizers might have asked him to buy a ticket.
Brown, one of the state’s top 125-pounders, wrestled only once on his way to the regional title. And that match lasted only 2 minutes, 26 seconds.
As the No. 1 seed, Brown received a first-round bye. He was to face Everett’s Bryan Irwin in the second round on Friday, but Irwin’s coaches held him out because of a bad back that has plagued him for several weeks. After pinning Oak Harbor’s Steve Lemme in the Saturday morning semifinals, Brown prepared himself for the evening title bout. He found out shortly after arriving at his corner of the mat that Mariner’s Dan Bush was also being held out with an injury.
“My coach says it’s a good thing,” Brown said. “I kind of think it’s a bad thing. I was hoping to get some good matches in before state.”
Out of nowhere: Stanwood junior point guard Daes Kaufman has improved a bit since his sophomore year. Kaufman scored only 35 points in seven games for the Spartans last year before an injury caused him to miss most of the season. As the heir to Ryan Appleby’s point guard position, Kaufman’s 18.7 points per game average is third in the North Division behind Snohomish’s Jon Brockman (22.7) and Oak Harbor’s Jeremy Brown (20.0).
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