Davenport girls handle Medical Lake

MEDICAL LAKE – The Davenport girls basketball team won their sixth out of their last seven games, this time defeating the Cardinal 57-15 Thursday, Jan. 9. It was the eighth time this season the Gorillas won a game by 20 points or more.

So far this season Davenport has shown the ability to jump on its opponents early with demoralizing scoring runs. Against the Cardinals, they opened the game 12-0 and led 22-4 at the end of the first quarter. The Gorillas extended their lead to 31-7 at halftime.

Glenna Soliday scored nine first half points, but it was her defensive play that sparked the Gorillas. In the first 16 minutes, she had eight steals and four rebounds. Clare Lathrop had 11 first half points. Addie Schneider took care of business under the basket by grabbing seven rebounds.

"In the first quarter we were pressing, and they got flustered," Charlotte Soliday said. "Clare had a lot of rebounds and putbacks."

In the second half, Lathrop scored 14 points and controlled the glass with 11 rebounds. Davenport head coach Stacia Soliday rotated her lineup as the Gorillas built a 46-12 lead after three quarters enroute to their 57-15 win.

Lathrop and Glenna Soliday earned double-doubles for the Gorillas. Lathrop led all scorers with 25 points. She also had 12 rebounds and three steals. Glenna Soliday had 18 points, 10 steals and six rebounds. Charlotte Soliday scored five points and recorded three steals. Samantha Stiles and Alyssa Kruger both scored two points and McCall Knopp scored one.

Adasha Gardner scored seven points for Medical Lake. Roslyn Lundberg scored four points and grabbed three rebounds. Sadie Evans scored three points and Autumn Trout scored one. Jocee Bryant had seven steals and four rebounds and Ayae Brown grabbed five rebounds.

Charlotte Soliday thought the Gorillas played good defense but was disappointed in her team's offensive effort.

"Our passing was a little iffy tonight," she said. "Our defensive play was pretty solid, but we need to work on our different offenses because they are scattered. We need to be more consistent. When we regroup, we'll play better."

Medical Lake head coach Yeta Holloway thought going into the game, his team was ready to play.

"We weren't ready to play tonight," he said. "The girls were relaxed, and I thought they would play better than they did. We had too many turnovers and didn't execute our game plan, We're young and learning how to play so we will have moments like this. I try really hard to make this a positive experience for them and am fortunate to have such a great group of girls. They played hard the entire game."

Medical Lake's Gardner felt her team's lack of experience was a factor in the Cardinals' loss.

"We didn't do our very best tonight," she said. "We have our good and bad days. It's been hard with a newer team because we had a lot of seniors graduate last year. We need to figure out how to be consistent. We had a hard time with their big girl and didn't box her out. If we are going to improve we need to play with more aggression and confidence."

The win improved Davenport's record to 10-2. Medical Lake dropped to 4-7.

Davenport played Newport Jan. 14 and will take on Northwest Christian at home Friday, Jan. 17. The Cardinals' next home game is against Riverside, Tuesday, Jan. 28.