Meadowdale survives Shorewood scare

SHORELINE — A subpar shooting performance wasn’t enough to derail the No. 1 ranked Class 3A team in the state.

Despite being limited to only one field goal in the second half, Meadowdale hung on for a 45-40 victory over Shorewood in a Western Conference 4A South Division girls basketball matchup Jan. 31 at Shorewood High School.

The Mavericks saw a 33-17 halftime lead cut to three points twice in the fourth quarter before securing the hard-fought victory.

“It shows our team that we really can pull it together at the end,” said senior forward Tara Jacob. “It was just a tough game for us.”

Meadowdale, which ended up being outscored 23-12 in the second half, didn’t make a field goal in the third quarter and connected on only one shot from the field in the fourth quarter.

“We struggled a little bit offensively,” said Meadowdale coach Karen Blair. “But defense is the thing that gets us by. They (Thunderbirds) did a great job of hitting the boards the whole game, but I thought that in the last four or five minutes of the game, we really controlled the boards and were able to pull it out.”

Shorewood outrebounded Meadowdale 31-24.

“We didn’t do too well on the boards throughout the game but at the end we finally got it,” Jacob said.

The five-point triumph was the closest margin of victory for the Mavericks (13-0 in the league, 15-0 overall) and prompted a lengthy meeting after the game in which the players reevaluated how the season has gone.

Each member of the team had the opportunity to express themselves.

“We just realized how much we need to want it more than other teams because everybody is after us,” Jacob said. “We basically just went around and everybody said how much they wanted it and what we want to do with the season. We basically got it clear in our head what we want to do.”

The tenacious Meadowdale defense forced five straight turnovers to start the game but the Thunderbirds recovered and only trailed 14-10 before freshman Maggie Brewe hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give the Mavericks a 17-10 first quarter lead.

The Mavericks extended their advantage to 16 points by the end of the second quarter.

Senior Nanda McCormick scored nine of her game-high 21 points in the third quarter to lead the Thunderbirds’ comeback.

The Mavericks’ offense was out of synch for much of the second half.

“‘We were just not being aggressive offensively,” Blair said. “We’d just come down and throw up shots that were off balance … they were doing a good job of shifting in their zone .”

With Shorewood chipping away at the lead, Meadowdale made six of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter. Junior forward Ashleigh Graham also had a key putback at the 2:16 mark of the fourth quarter after Shorewood had cut the deficit to three points.

“When it was on the line, the girls were able to pull it out,” Blair said. “It’s always great to come down here (Shorewood) because they’ve got the band. It gets into a playoff-type of atmosphere. You get the hostile environment. It was a good mental toughness check for them.”

Senior guard Jacci Baker and Jacob each scored eight points for the Mavericks.

Knowing that their opponents are going to bring their best game against the Mavericks is something the players welcome.

“It helps us be mentally tough,” Jacob said. “If we ever go in there not having a good mentally tough game then we’re going to be challenged like we were tonight. So I think it’s a good thing definitely. It pushes our team.”