By PAUL DELANEY
Staff Reporter
The state’s sixth-ranked girls RPI team from Medical Lake did nothing to jeopardize their standing last week.
The Cardinals breezed past a trio of Northeast A League teams to improve their league record to 10-0 and 14-0 overall. They beat Riverside 65-31 in ML on Jan. 16, Chewelah 54-39 on the road last Friday and capped the week with a 59-14 blitzing of Deer Park last Saturday back at home.
Jayda Noble scored a game-high 17 points in Medical Lake’ s win over Riverside (0-10 NEA, 4-13 overall) where her team played both impressive offense and defense and led 32-14 at halftime. “Jayda has improved so much this year and really taken on more of a leadership role which I have been very happy with,” Cardinals’ head coach Kyle Lundberg wrote in an email.
Lundberg was careful in his game planning for both the Rams, and the rest of the week’s opponents who occupy the lower rungs of the league ladder. “We definitely couldn’t over look them,” Lundberg said. “Any team can beat any team.”
Makayla Geiger’s 14 points and Jaxyn Farmen, with 13, spread the scoring around against Riverside. Brittney Nortz had 11 for the Rams.
“Makayla Geiger does a good job getting to the paint, which makes defenses collapse and creates a lot of shots for us,” Lundberg said when describing the ability for different players to make an impact on any given night.
A case-in-point was Lexie Redell who scored a game-high 16 points in Medical Lake’s win at Chewelah (4-6, 8-6). “Lexie has been shooting the ball very well for us,” Lundberg said. “Jaxyn Farmen, broken nose and all, has been scoring and playing very well,” he added.
Farmen and Geiger each had 12 points.
Lundberg said his defense “was pretty good last week,” with the exception of Chewelah. “They shot really well, 40 percent.” Medical Lake was shorthanded with just six of nine varsity players in uniform for the first two games of the week as the team has been hit by the flu bug, Lundberg said.
No question the defense improved Saturday at home against Deer Park (3-7, 6-9) where the Cardinals smothered the Stags, allowing them single-digit scoring in every quarter. Farmen, Geiger and Redell each scored 14 to lead Medical Lake, which led big, 32-7 at halftime. With Noble at just eight points, the Cardinals got some spark from the bench from Jaycee Oliver.
“Jaycee Oliver is a player than can step up when needed,” Lundberg said. “She flies under the radar along with Emily Munson who makes smart plays every game.”
This week’s schedule included a home game with Newport (4-6, 8-8) on Jan. 23 and Kellogg the following night in a nonleague game rescheduled from an earlier weather delay. The schedule resumes Friday with a game at Freeman at 5:45 p.m. and the nonleague trip to 2B Liberty (10-3) Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Heading into this week’s contests, Lundberg’s main concern is health. “I have been saying this all year,” he said. “In my four years here I haven’t ever had so many sick players, but I’m sure most every team has been dealing with the same issue.”
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
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