Medical Lake boys finally break losing streak

It took a road trip north to Colville for the Medical Lake boys basketball crew to finally get their groove back, putting an eight-game losing streak in the rear view mirror with a decisive 64-42 victory over the Indians in Northeast 1A league action Friday night after a loss to the Lakeside earlier in the week. They then carried the taste of victory into their matchup against Riverside on Saturday for a two-game winning streak.

Tuesday, Jan. 15, Lakeside

The Card boys continued their seven game losing streak, dropping their eighth in a row to the Lakeside Eagles (5-3, 10-6) in a 70-60 loss in Northeast 1A league play at home.

The visiting Eagles took it to the Cards early and often in the first quarter, running up a 21-11 lead that the Cards were never able to catch through the remainder of the game.

While the Cards outshot the Eagles inside the key, as a team they also continued to draw plenty of fouls — 16 to Lakesides 12, and against only two Lakeside players — who managed to make the net in all eight of their attempts from the free throw line.

The Eagles also outshot the Cards in the 3-pointer category, making 10 three-pointers to the Cards four. Still, there were individual victories to celebrate, according to head coach Noel Hachtel.

“Jordan Petersen played terrific defense holding two-time all-league player Tristen Cox scoreless,” Hachtel noted of his 6 foot 2 inch junior guard. “I believe Jordan’s length was a huge issue for Cox. That and Cox was tasked to guard Ashton Hamilton-Becker and I believe he was worn out on both ends.”

Ashton Hamilton-Becker led the cards in scoring with 16. Sam Gollehon followed closely with 15 points. Both went 2-2 in free throws. Alex Stith managed 11 points, 3-4 in free throws. All three players drew 3 fouls apiece. Garren Garza and Nick Mason each netted nine points. Garza led the team with 4 fouls.

Friday, Jan. 18, at Colville

But for truly competitive teams defeat is never an ongoing option, as the Card’s proved in a 64-24 blowout victory on Friday against the Colville Indians.

“Nick Mason was on fire and completely focused,” Cardinal head coach Noel Hachtel said of his 6 foot 4 inch junior guard.

Although the Cards came out sluggish in the first quarter against the Indians, initially trailing 6-10 at the end of the first quarter, they pushed back on a Nick Mason 3-pointer in the second to capture the lead, holding the Indians to only 9 points to the Card’s 20 through the entire quarter.

And they never looked back.

With the score 26-19 going into the second half, the winless Indians gave it their best, tying the game at 30-30 midway through the third quarter. But the Cards, themselves finally seeing the light at the end of a long, dark, losing streak tunnel, weren’t about to have another victory torn from their grasp. Although the game tied once more near the end of the third, the Cards launched a strong offensive surge to move well ahead, and another Nick Mason 3-pointer took the Cards into the fourth quarter with a seven-point lead. The Card boys continued their shooting streak through a decisive fourth quarter, leaving the Indians behind to win the game.

Hachtel noted that Colville’s 5 foot 7 inch Kobe Cunningham was “the only real scoring threat during the game.”

He had a plan for that.

“In the fourth quarter we put Nick Mason on him and he wasn’t able to take a good shot for the remainder of the game,” Hachtel said.

Mason had a career game, leading the late game shooting spree and amassing 17 total game points by the final buzzer, including two three-pointers and a free throw. Senior point guard Alex Stith shot four 2-pointers and two free throws for 10 points. Junior Jordan Petersen had 9 points, and sophomore Ashton Hamilton-Becker shot for 8. The Card’s brought down 26 rebounds and shared a total of 16 assists, with a 49 percent field goal percentage.

“The victory was nice to see and much needed for our confidence going into the district tournament next month,” Hachtel said of his team’s win.

Saturday, Jan. 19, at Riverside

That confidence also carried the Card boys to Riverside to extend their winning streak the following day, where they “attacked the basket as much as physically possible” to keep Riverside’s 3-pointers in check against what Hachtel called a much-improved Rams team for a 71-68 victory.

“We know we can shoot the three, but our offense is a guard-oriented offense and it doesn’t work if our guards are unwilling to penetrate,” Hachtel said. “We also wanted to take advantage of their inability to guard the post.”

And the Cards defense did just that. Throughout the first quarter the Card boys offense went to town while defending against Riverside, holding the Rams to 13 points against the Card’s 24, with Garren Garza closing the quarter with a 3-pointer. The Rams rallied a bit in the mid-second quarter, but Cards kept at it to close the first half at 38-30.

Hachtel noted that Riverside is also a guard-oriented team, but small, and lacked what it takes to compete with 6 toot 2 inch Senior Alex Stith inside.

Stith had a monster game, shooting for a career-high 29 points off of 11 of 17 3-pointers and 7 of 9 free throws.

“We were able to get the ball inside and (Stith) was able to score almost at will and when he didn’t score, he was fouled,” Hachtel said.

The second half has the much the same as the first, and although the Rams were able to get within two points of the Cards lead, they were never able to take it away.

“It was nice to face resistance late and fight for 32 minutes to earn a victory,” Hachtel said.

Sam Gollehon added 18 points and 4 rebounds, while Garren Garza scored 10 points. Nick Mason scored 6, with 10 rebounds and 5 assists.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected]