Medical Lake girls basketball closes with dual wins

It was a fight for the top spot in the Northeast A league for both the Freeman Scotties (10-2, 15-5) and the Cardinals girls (11-1, 15-5) in their final regular season game in Medical Lake Thursday night. It was a battle for supremacy the entire game in the close, 40-38 Card victory and the title that went down to the, nail-biting final seconds.

"We knew it would be a close hard fought game," head coach Kyle Lundberg said. "Freeman is a really good team."

Medical Lake drew first blood on a Jaycee Oliver field goal, but by the end of the first period the Scotties had come back to take a 7-3 lead. The Cards rallied in the middle of the second quarter off an Oliver 3-pointer, followed by an Emily Munson field goal to bring them to within a point of the Scotties. Jaxyn Farmen then landed another 3-pointer, followed by an Emma Maxwell free throw and another 3-pointer by Allison Duncan. The Scotties landed a single free throw in between for a 15-10 Cards lead with about a minute left in the first half. Both teams surged on offense in the final seconds, but the Scotties weren't able to overcome the Cards, who held a 17-15 lead into the half.

Both teams came back to the hardwood after halftime with the Scotties showing a more aggressive defense and what ended up being a more even game. Freeman tied the game 17-17 with an energetic offense at the 6:40 mark. But again the Cards answered right back with a Munson 2-pointer and two successful free throws by Redell for a Medical Lake 21-17 lead. That was a followed by a point-for-point offensive rush that saw the teams exchange the lead change four times. The Cards took a 29-27 lead on a final Redell 2-pointer by the time the third period dust had settled.

But it didn't settle long. The final period was more of the same single point lead trading as offenses battled it out when the Card girls finally took and held the lead in the middle of the fourth.

"You don't know what type of team and leaders you have until you face some adversity, and our girls have definitely answered the call," Lundberg said.

But the real drama came in the final seconds of the game when, with Medical Lake leading 38-37, Jessica Lohman found herself standing at the free throw line, where she made 2 for 2 to give the Cards a three-point lead. The Scotties Lacy Luhr was then fouled, but went 1-2.

Score: 40-38.

Then, with 13.2 seconds left to play, the Scotties intimidating 5-foot-10-inch junior forward Bradee Parisotto was fouled, and toed the free throw line with the game-tying points held in her hands. With the entire gymnasium holding its breath, Parisotto went 0-2 - and handed the Cardinal girls both the game and their third league championship in as many years.

"I think this league title was really special as we faced a tough schedule, 10th strongest in the state," Lundberg said in retrospect. "We lost two first-team, all-league players and weren't even picked to win our league."

The team took the players' loss as a "personal challenge," Lundberg said.

Then they lost to Deer Park on Jan. 4, followed by another the following week in in Cashmere in non-league play.

It was a crossroad, Lundberg said, and the team - most of the girls had grown up together with a bond that surpasses basketball - stepped up. He gave credit to team captains Jaxyn Farman, Emily Munson and Lexie Redell for providing the leadership necessary to go on to win their next nine games, closing the regular season with a 10-2 league record, and 18-2 overall, and bringing home the Northeast A League Champions Girls Basketball 2018-19 trophy.

"You don't know what type of team and leaders you have until you face some adversity, and our girls have definitely answered the call," Lundberg said.

The Cards had only nine turnovers but didn't shoot well from outside, netting only 16 percent of 3-pointers. Still, Lundberg was happy with the results.

"All in all very proud of the effort," he said.

Redell was the team-leading scorer for the night with nine points, going 5 for 6 in free throws.

Senior Jessica Lohman scored eight points and went 4 for 5 in free throws. She played 49 games for the Cardinals, scoring an average of 7.4 points per game, and went 49 for 74 free throws for her career.

Farman had five points, including one 3-pointer. Playing in 55 games as a Cardinal, she average 6.2 points per game and was 51 for 98 in free throws.

The victory also earned the Card girls a number one seed in the District 7 semi-final game on Friday, Feb 8, at West Valley High School. Their opponent will be determined after the first round of the Division 7 playoff games. Lakeside will play in Colville, and Riverside at Deer Park on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Tip off is at 6:30 p.m.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected]