Medical Lake's Chloe Parsons forces her way through the defense for a shot against Northport in the Eagle Holiday Classic on Dec. 28. The Cardinals defeated the Mustangs 54-27.
The Medical Lake girls put the sting of a close loss to Greater Spokane League Shadle Park behind them and split a pair of games in the Eagle Holiday Classic following a win over Northport.
And all of it from a 4-4 preseason leads the Cardinals into the resumption of Northeast A League play this week.
Medical Lake, playing without one of its premiere players in Charde Luat in the second half, watch Shadle rally from a 28-20 deficit at half-time and lost a 47-46 thriller Dec. 27 at the West Valley tournament. The Cardinals rebounded, literally and figuratively to crush an undermanned Northport squad, 54-27.
"I've been happy with our progress so far," head coach Brett Ward wrote in an email. "We've played hard and our team chemistry is great."
The final score was only part of the story vs. the Highlanders who had the fortune of not having to face one of the Cardinals' top talents in Charde Luat, who tournament officials did not allow to play in the second half.
"We fought so much adversity that night," head coach Brett Ward wrote in an email. "We were up eight at halftime, but the athletic trainers at West Valley didn't allow Charde to play the 2nd half. There were no details on what brought about Luat's temporary banishment.
Without Luat, and later ML's top bench player, Chloe Parsons who fouled out, the Cardinals 28-20 lead slowly evaporated. Shadle won the second half 27-18. "We relied heavily on two kids who play primarily JV basketball," Ward said.
Still, Luat scored 14 points - equaling the full game totals of Highlander Kyleigh Archer - and had support from Delaney Gunther (12 points) and Chiche Okembgo (10)
"We relied heavily on two kids who play primarily JV basketball," Ward said. "The kids played their heart out to hold on to the lead, we just ran out of gas."
The assignment got a bit easier vs. Northport which showed with just six players. Behind Gunther's 23 and Luat's 15, Medical Lake enjoyed a 23-11 halftime lead.
"It's an important week for us," Ward said as Medical Lake (1-0 NEA) faced Riverside Jan. 3, welcomes Colville (Jan. 6, 7:30 p.m.) and is at Deer Park (Jan. 7, 7:30 p.m.). "We need to continue to start league play on the right foot."
Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)