SEATTLE
Lethal quickness.
Chene Cooper certainly has it, and she frequently used her coveted skill to attack the Meadowdale girls basketball team on March 5.
Although Meadowdale refused to fade away, Cooper’s 25 points, five assists and two steals helped launch the Lakes Lancers to a 59-56 triumph over the Mavericks in a first-round Class 3A state tournament game at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Cooper, a speedy 5-foot-1 senior guard, scored seven points during a key second-quarter stretch, and her team withstood a near-triple double by Meadowdale’s Eryn Jones (23 points, nine rebounds, nine assists). The victory by Lakes (22-1), ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press 3A poll, sent third-ranked Meadowdale (21-5) to the consolation portion of the double-elimination tourney.
“I’m still confident. I know we can finish well,” said Meadowdale coach Dan Taylor.
Against Lakes, Meadowdale cut the deficit to two points with 2 minutes, 40 seconds to go. But Lakes, which was 16-for-20 on foul shots, held on despite giving Meadowdale several good mid- to close-range shots down the stretch.
Typically an excellent outside-shooting team, Meadowdale was just 7-for-27 (25.9 percent) from 3-point range. Jones, Julia Fjortoft and Hanna Fjortoft made two apiece.
“You can’t live and die by the 3,” Taylor said. “We missed some short-range jumpers, even Eryn.”
Jones, who was 10-for-26 from the field, connected on a pull-up jump shot from 15 feet to make it 54-51 with 2:03 remaining. Later, a 3-pointer by Hanna Fjortoft got Meadowdale within two points. But the Mavericks could never completely erase a four-point halftime deficit.
“I’m just really proud of our team,” Jones said. “We battled the whole game. It’s tough when you’re that close, but we can’t give up.”
Added Hanna Fjortoft, a junior guard who didn’t start and played less than 12 minutes because of an ankle injury: “We know if it was a different day and everyone was healthy we could have beat them.”
Lakes’ Cooper would be difficult to contain any day, though.
“She’s probably the quickest girl we’ve played,” Taylor said, “and she creates for her teammates.”
NEW LOOK: Usually Taylor, head coach of the Meadowdale girls basketball team, and his assistant coaches wear formal, classy clothes for games. But Wednesday the coaches tried a new approach. Hoping that wearing more casual clothing would help players relax and not get too serious, Taylor and his assistants wore blue Meadowdale T-shirts and jeans.
The casual style lasted only one game. After Meadowdale lost a first-round game against Lakes, on Thursday the Mavericks’ coaches switched back to fancy attire.
Said Taylor of the change: “Back to business.”
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