Card girls off to 2-0 start in league play

MEDICAL LAKE — The Cardinal girls came away from their first two Northeast A League games of the season last week with back-to-back wins going into their brief holiday break.

Medical Lake vs. Lakeside

Knowing the Eagles struggle with ball pressure, the plan, according to head coach Kyle Lundberg, was to generate defensive turnovers, then get out and run.

“The girls did that,” Lundberg said. “They did a good job.”

More than a good job in the lopsided 52-23 Tuesday, Dec. 17, rout of the visiting Eagles.

The Cardinals came out hard and fast, scoring 18 points to Lakeside’s five in the first quarter before the Eagles defense warmed up in the second to hold Medical Lake to eight for a 26-11 Cardinal lead at halftime.

The second half would be a repeat of the first, with the Cardinals again exploding on the Eagles, scoring 16 points and holding their opponents to just seven, then going on to make twice the Eagles points in the fourth for their first NEA win of the season.

Lundberg wasn’t surprised.

“It was nice to see the energy and the enthusiasm that they have been lacking so far,” he said.

Medical Lake at Colville

“It’s always a challenge to play in Colville,” Lundberg said before the game. “It’s a location that’s hard to get going.”

Challenge accepted.

The game began on relatively equal terms, with Colville taking the first period by one point. But the Cardinal offense was just getting started, going into offensive overdrive in the second, while ratcheting-up their defensive effort as well, outscoring the Indians by a factor of two for a 20-15 lead heading into halftime.

And the Cardinal steamroller didn’t lose it’s momentum in the second half, going on to outscore the Indians 23-10 for a final score of 43-25 and their second league win of the season.

‘We really wanted to rebound well and front their post,” Lundberg said of his game plan, adding they also focused on limiting Colville’s best player, McKenna Reggear, who Lundberg said averaged close to 20 points per game. “We did a great job double teaming her and limiting her shots along with keeping her off the boards.”

The Cardinals held Reggear to only two points.

“Overall I’m very happy with their performance up there,” Lundberg said. “Emma did a great job blocking out and really shot the ball well. Ellie Acord played very physical and did a great job on the boards.”

Emma Maxwell led the Cards with 11 points, followed closely by Jaycee Oliver with 10. Lexie Redell and Ellie accord with six each.

Medical Lake now leads the NEA with a 2-0 league record and 2-4 overall.

The Cards are scheduled to face East Valley on Friday, Dec. 27, at 8 p.m., followed by Timberlake the next day, also at 8 a.m. in non-league play, before traveling to Riverside to take on the NEA Rams (0-1,3-4) on Friday, Jan. 3, at 5 p.m.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].