Medical Lake boys stumble, split games with Colville, Newport

Medical Lake got excellent defensive performances last week in a pair of Northeast A League games. Problem was their offense didn’t hold up their end of the bragain.

The Cardinals breezed to a 62-22 humbling of Colville on the road last Tuesday, but could not maintain things Friday at home versus Newport in a 53-41 loss.

Newport (3-2 NEA, 8-3 overall) got 22 points from Kyler Zorica who was nearly unstoppable from beyond the arc as he hit 6 of 10 3-point shots. Donte Brown was the only Cardinal in double figures with 13 points.

“We just didn’t shoot the thing well,” head coach Arnold Brown said of the Friday outing. “The inside game wasn’t as effective as in the past.”

The shots just did not fall for the Cardinals. “We were 5 for 20-something from the 3-line,” Brown said.

“I don’t think our normal 3-point shooters made anything,” he added. “Donte made three or four; Cooper’s (James) is one of our better shooters and he was 0 for 5, Cory (Wagner) went 1 for 7.”

Brown said he thought his team rushed their shooting. “Their timing was really off, we didn’t execute like we should. In a close game you need to execute.”

Brown was happy with his defense, however. “You hold them to 50 points it’s always good.” Medical Lake (4-1, 6-3) lost the rebounding battle by 20.

The team played especially well on both ends of the court Tuesday on the road in Colville, especially on defense where the Indians scored just four points in the first half and were shutout in the second quarter.

“We shot well and it always helps when you shoot well,” Brown said.

The wide margin of victory opened the game for bench players. That might have affected the team Friday, Brown said. “The past few games the starters haven’t played a lot of minutes, it’s good and bad sometimes,” Brown said.

Jaelon Stith led the Cardinals with 18 points with Wagner adding 11.

This week features three games, two important league encounters at Lakeside (4-1, 8-3) this past Tuesday and Saturday at home versus Riverside (0-5, 1-9) at 5:45 p.m.

The annual Spirit Game also takes place tonight (Jan. 14) at 7 p.m. at Cheney (4-6), which will not have anything riding on it other than West Plains bragging rights.

“It’s always good for our community, our kids,” Brown said. “It’s always nice to step away from this stuff (league play) and have fun.”

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].