Cards game last-minute game versus touring Aussie team
Pembers of the visiting Tenison Woods College Titans and Medical Lake gather for a photo following the Cardinals' 62-52 nonleague win on Dec. 2 versus the team that is touring from Australia. The visitors had a cancellation on their schedule and Medical Lake was able to fill the date.
Medical Lake's boy's basketball team had the fortune of playing one of the Greater Spokane League's and Australia's best and came away impressing their coach.
The Cardinals, coming off a 16-9 season with an appearance in the state tournament, lost a 71-59 contest at GSL Shadle Park on Nov. 29 and then toppled the touring Tenison Woods College Titans on Dec. 2 at home.
Against a Highlander team that went 19-6, and also made it into the state tournament, the Cardinals fell behind at half 37-27 before putting on a third quarter rally that saw them take a five-point lead.
"We were down by 10 going into halftime and we got down by 15 in the third quarter and ended up taking a five point lead on them," second-year head coach Noel Hachtel said.
Shadle used a 20-9 fourth quarter to put the game away.
"Their size got us because they're real big," Hachtel said. "They had a kid that was about 6-(foot) 4 (inches) and weighed about 250 (pounds) - a real strong guy - we couldn't match that size."
Nick Mason led the Cards in scoring with 12 points while Jacquez Johnson added 11.
Originally, Medical Lake had Saturday off, and that open date turned out to be a bonus for both the Cardinals and Australia's Tenison Woods, which had a team suddenly back out on a game during their 23-day tour of the U.S.
Some fast work by Medical Lake officials got the game approved by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.
The visitors, who had played a game in Colton the previous evening - winning 88-60 - showed their "bus legs," falling behind 10-1 but staged a slow rally, largely on the strength of some solid free throw shooting to make a game out of it in the second half.
The Titans closed to within four at 33-29 early in the third quarter but the Cardinals went on a 9-2 run to close the period to lead 52-40. Tenison got it back to within eight, 54-46, but no closer.
Johnson paced the Cards with 19 points. Sam Gollehon had 13 while Garren Garza added 11. Joshua Koennecke had 15 and Finn Grimes 13 to lead Tenison, a private Catholic school in South Australia.
"It's definitely a different style," Hachtel said. "I think the American style is more physical than what they're used to."
Medical Lake hounded the visitors, forcing them into 24 turnovers and grabbing 17 steals.
"Their fundamentals are a little better than ours," Hachtel said, noting the Titans were a solid 20 for 34 from the free throw line, but just 1 of 7 from 3-point range.
Hachtel had an apt comparison to the weather outside that offered off and on snow showers for the visitors who never see that in their country.
"Playing with fundamentals at the speed we play is like driving a car at 35 miles per hour and then ask to drive that car at 35 miles per hour in the snow," he said.
Medical Lake played a nonleague game on Dec. 5 versus Davenport and then jumps into Northeast A play on the road Dec. 8 at Riverside (5:45 p.m.) and Saturday at Lakeland of Rathdrum in a nonleague matchup (4:30 p.m.). The Cards are home Dec. 12 versus Chewelah at 5:45 p.m.
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
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