TACOMA — Meadowdale coach Chad McGuire won’t be thinking about the disappointing end to the Mavericks’ four-day run at last week’s Class 3A state boys basketball tournament when he reflects on the 2003-04 season.
Though Meadowdale led for virtually all 32 minutes of the third-sixth place game, the Mavericks saw what seemed to be a certain victory slip from their fingers.
West Valley (Yakima) guard E.J. Schoen sank a running 10-foot jumper with 3.2 seconds left to lift the Rams to a stunning 59-57 victory March 6 at the Tacoma Dome.
Meadowdale senior guard Taylor Marsh appeared to all but seal the win for the Mavericks with his third 3-pointer of the game, which gave the Mavericks a 57-53 lead with 49 seconds remaining in the game.
But West Valley forward Andrew Strait followed with a bucket and then senior center Corey Wehr made a pair of free throws to tie the score at 57.
Meadowdale (23-5) had a chance to win the game but turned the ball over on an over-and-back violation with 19.4 seconds left in the game.
West Valley then ran the clock down and eventually the ball ended up in Schoen’s hands after Strait found himself double-teamed. Schoen made the game-winner with a Meadowdale defender’s hand in his face.
“He made a contested jump shot,” McGuire said. “That’s pretty hard to defend. We took away their first option and their second option came through and made the shot.”
The loss was difficult for the Mavericks to stomach, especially after leading for most of the game.
“This game hurts pretty bad,” Marsh said. “We just didn’t get a big enough lead. Give them credit. They hung in there. They played well, but I thought we had it in the end.”
Senior forward Colin Matteson scored a game-high 21 points and Marsh added 15. Junior guard Jake Linton had 11 points.
But in the end, the loss isn’t what McGuire will remember about his team.
Not after contemplating the accomplishments of a group of seniors who helped lead Meadowdale to its first trip to the state tournament in 25 seasons a year ago and who made their second straight trip to the Tacoma Dome.
“They’ve had a great run. We have a great group of seniors,” said McGuire, who is in his second year as head coach. “Two years in a row we make it to the semifinals and make a run at a state championship. What I’ll remember is the runs we made.
“This game in the grand scheme of things is meaningless.”
The Mavericks faced a familiar opponent in the semifinals a day earlier. Two-time defending champion Rainier Beach again sent Meadowdale into the consolation bracket with a 48-36 victory.
“It hurts losing the third-sixth place game but not as much as last night,” McGuire said. “We want to win a championship. It still hurts anytime you lose a close game.”
The Mavericks also finished sixth at state last year.
Matteson sees a bright future for Meadowdale, which will be moving up to the 4A classification next year.
“I think we’ve established ourselves as a program,” he said. “Coach McGuire and coach (Dean) Wiley, they’re pretty much the rock of the program and even after all these people (seniors) leave, they’re still going to be a great program.
“You’re going to see Meadowdale in the state tournament for years to come.”
McGuire also isn’t fazed by the loss of four starters and seven seniors. The lone returning starter will be Linton, who earned second-team, all-tournament honors.
“We’re losing a lot of seniors but still we’ve got a nice group of juniors coming back,” McGuire said. “We’ll be a different team in terms of the way we play, but we’ve got a good group coming back.”
While the spotlight in recent years has shown on the Meadowdale girls team, which won its second state championship later that night, the boys are starting to make a name for themselves with their two straight semifinal appearances.
“I think we put Meadowdale basketball for the boys on the map,” Marsh said. “People know about us now.”
Most of this year’s seniors have been teammates since the seventh grade and have played on the same teams throughout the years, which is one of the reasons for the Mavericks’ success.
“We’re all each other’s best friends,” Marsh said.
The seniors all share a love of basketball and forgo personal accomplishments for the good of the team, McGuire said.
“The best thing about this group of seniors is they’re very unselfish,” he added. “They’re willing to give up individual performances to be a good team. In order to win, you have to be a good team.”
Several players could easily be scoring 20 points per game, but McGuire noted that instead they share the ball.
“We just had a great group,” Matteson said. “We all played well as a team. We loved each other on and off the court.”
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