Cardinals boys take two in OT

MEDICAL LAKE — The Cardinals are playing it tight and getting in some extra quarters as the season moves ahead in their first two Northeast A league games that together took four overtime quarters to win.

Medical Lake vs. Lakeside

It was deja vu all over again in Medical Lake on Tuesday, Dec. 12 when the 4-1 Cardinals took on the 3-4 Lakeside Eagles to win in another Ashton Hamilton-Becker last second 3-point clutch shot to seal a drawn out 62-59 win in a white-knuckle triple overtime battle.

It was a repeat of another last second clutch 3-pointed Hamilton-Becker made just five days earlier against St. George’s.

“It took three extra quarters to get the job done,” head coach Jordan Starr said. “It felt like couple hours”

The Cardinals took an early six point lead in the first quarter before the Eagles amped up their defense in the second to close the first half with a 21-15 Cardinal lead.

But the tables turned in the second half, when Lakeside emerged from the locker room with a different strategy, outscoring Medical Lake by six points to tie the game at the closing buzzer to take the game into overtime.

And over the course of the next three — yes, three — overtime quarters neither team gave an inch, holding each other to eight points in the fifth, then seven in the sixth after Nick Mason sank a floater that sent the game into triple OT before he fouled out.

Then, with the game tied and mere seconds on the clock, Hamilton-Becker hit a 3-pointer from some 30 feet out from the top right wing to nail the win.

“He’s put in a lot of work,” Starr said of Hamilton-Becker. “He’s a guy that always wants to get better.”

Jordan Petersen led the Cardinals with 18 points, followed by Hamilton-Becker with 17 and Mason with 13.

The team didn’t have practice the next day, according to Starr, a carrot he dangled ahead of the game if they pulled off a win against Lakeside.

“It just took three extra quarters to get the job done,” he added.

Medical Lake at Colville

But the Cardinals seem to be growing fond of overtime.

After Lakeside, it was off to Colville (0-2, 1-6) on Friday, Dec. 20, to take on the Indians in a close, five-quarter, 76-75 road victory, with the Cards maintaining the lead in the first two quarters to close the half with a 3-point lead. But the Indians came out in the third to take their own 3-point lead going into the fourth quarter in what looked to be an Indian win.

But Medical Lake was having none of it, pouring on the offense in the fourth to tie the score and send yet another game into overtime.

The fifth quarter was defensive, with the Cardinals holding the Indians to nine points, enough that their own 10 points ensured the win.

Peterson led Cardinal scoring with 19 points, followed by Mason with 18, Hamilton-Becker 13 and Taye Jones with 12.

Medical Lake advances to a 2-0 record and 5-1 overall to take second place in the NEA league behind undefeated Deer Park.

They are scheduled to face Sandpoint and Selkirk at West Valley High School in non-league holiday play on Thursday, Dec. 26 and Friday, Dec. 27 respectively before traveling to Riverside to take on the Rams (0-1,3-4) on Friday, Jan. 3.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].