Medical Lake basketball teams open at home

MEDICAL LAKE – High school basketball season is underway, and the Medical Lake Cardinals opened their season on December 2 at home against the Saint George’s Dragons.

The varsity girls game tipped off at 5:45 and the Lady Cardinals soared to a solid victory 37-19 over the Dragons in the home opener. Medical Lake senior Amblessed Okemgbo led the Cardinals in scoring with 15 points and added a handful of rebounds in the team’s victory. Charde’ Luat and Mckenzi Hammel each added 8 points as well.

The following night, the lady Cardinals traveled to Liberty high school to face the Lancers. Ellie Haas scored 11 points in the game, but Medical Lake fell to Liberty 28-47. Medical Lake had seven players scoring on the night, but Liberty’s defense didn’t allow much. Teagan Colvin for the Lancers proved to be too much to handle, as she scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against the Cardinals. Lancer Ellie Denny also contributed 11 points, six rebounds, and four blocks.

The varsity team for the boys played a hard-fought game against the Dragons, but in the end fell short and lost 61-57. Medical Lake head coach Jordan Starr said, “Saint George’s is a well-coached and skilled team, and they held us to a hard-fought quality basketball game.”

A lot of the starters had solid statistics for the opening game, and the coach said the team can certainly build on those positive notes. Medical Lake senior Oran Rhimer had 18 points on the night along with an impactful performance on defense. Junior Noah Keister added 15 points and helped keep the ball moving offensively.

Tyler Sembly added 11 points while Zach Endreson added 9, and both contributed a couple of steals and rebounds with strong defensive efforts.

The Cardinal boys team also traveled to face Liberty high school on December 3. Senior Tyler Sembly led the Cardinals in scoring with 25 points, and draining a trio of three pointers. Oran Rhimer added 12 points along with a few rebounds. Eugene Haas III scored seven points and moved the ball well with several assists.

In the end Liberty won the game 67-55 and Colton Marsh led the way with 30 points for the Lancers. Tayshawn Colvin also added 19 points for Liberty in their victory.

Matthew can be reached at [email protected]