LYNNWOOD — The contest was billed as a classic matchup between two powerful heavyweights, but the knockout punches came quickly like fists of fury.
The fast on the hair-trigger Snohomish Panthers rode a hail of 3-point baskets to a 17-point halftime lead and went on to record a 69-53 victory over previously unbeaten Meadowdale in a non-conference girls basketball game Jan. 17 at Meadowdale High School.
Meadowdale (10-1) came into the game ranked No. 1 in Class 3A in both the Washingtonpreps.com and Associated Press polls. Snohomish (9-0) was ranked no. 3 and no. 8, respectively, in Class 4A in the same polls.
But, led by Kristen Moore’s ball-hawking defense it was Snohomish that converted several Meadowdale turnovers in to a surprising 9-0 lead in the opening minutes.
The Panthers never trailed.
Despite a trio of 3-point baskets by Snohomish in the first quarter, Meadowdale managed to creep within 19-14 on Ashley Fenimore’s basket at the end of the first quarter.
The Panther’s Tara Angell hit a 3-pointer to open the second quarter before officials called a timeout to fix the shot clock.
Kneeled down by his team’s bench, Snohomish coach Ken Roberts casually injected a little humor, which effectively framed the fray.
“I don’t care,” a smiling Roberts told an official. “We never use it anyway.”
Indeed.
Free throws by the Mavericks’ Marelle Moehrle cut the deficit to 28-22 midway through the second quarter, before 3-pointers by Moore, Daesha Henderson and Amanda Best, spurred a brutal 13-2 Panther run to close out the first half.
Snohomish shot a dizzying 7 of 9 from the 3-point line in the half.
Moore, who had seven steals, spearheaded the Panther attack on offense as well, finishing with 16 points.
While the Snohomish guards Moore, Henderson (15 points, four rebounds), Best (15 points, five boards) and Angell alternated causing havoc for Meadowdale on both ends of the floor, the Panthers also dominated inside.
Forward Sydney Benson had eight points to go along with seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Benson limited Meadowdale’s Quinn Brewe, who came in averaging nearly 19 points per game, to just seven.
Snohomish also got a big lift underneath from Emily Cassidy (eight points, six rebounds) and Jordan Wilde, who came off the bench to grab five boards and score four points.
“Her ego is so in check,” Roberts said of Wilde. “She’s the only senior on the team. She’s put in her time, she’s been through the wars, and she just comes in and gives us quality minutes.”
Anne Martin, who lead Meadowdale with 15 points, keyed a 7-0 Maverick run, but Best hit a three in the waning seconds of the third quarter to put Snohomish ahead 58-40.
“We’ll use this as a learning experience,” Martin said.
Bob Mortenson writes for The Herald in Everett.
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