By Quint Turner

In a game dominated by two incredibly talented girls, Brianne Lasconia of the Shorecrest Scots simply outscored the Lady Mavs’ Margreet Barhoum. Lasconia really picked up the pace in the second half, where the Mavs had a lead but couldn’t close it out. An aggressive defense from both sides led to key turnovers, but the Scots converted more of those than the Lady Mavs, as the Scots would win 46-43 on their home court.

The first quarter was fast-paced, despite the fact both teams scores only 19 points combined. The defense on both sides forced a lot of turnovers (6 for Mavs, 5 for Scots), and really prevented a truly wide-open shot.

The Mavs showed just how tough they were in the second. They would start a 6-0 run, which may sound small, but in this low-scoring game, it was huge. Bianca Landa scored on three straight Maverick possessions, as she was getting good down-low looks. There was a lot of back and forth play from both sides, as defense of the Scots made sure the Mavs would have a tough time shooting. With a two-point lead and three seconds to go, Barhoum took a buzzer-beating three that would give Meadowdale a 25-20 lead into the third.

The beginning of the third was all Mavs. Including a Barhoum three pointer, allowing Meadowdale to rack up a 9-0 run to get a 33-22 lead. After this, both sides could not buy a bucket. The much more aggressive Scots defense constantly put pressure on the Mavs, but the Scots themselves ended up being too tired to ever convert after missed shots from the Mavs. This quarter had the momentum shift back to the Scots, as they would get a 5-0 run to end the third, and seemed to be on the verge of breaking out of a 33-27 deficit.

In the fourth quarter, the Scots did grab momentum. Or rather, Lasconia did. She dominated the fourth, scoring buckets right and left. The Mavs constantly had to match what the Scots did, and while that worked for the first half of the quarter, the second was completely different. Lasconia had an amazing layup where she ran around all five Maverick defenders and scored the go- ahead bucket to put them up 44-42. Then, with the Scots up 44-43, neither team seemed to be able to handle the ball. The Scots turned the ball over with 36 seconds to play, which the Mavericks promptly turned back over.

Shorecrest’s Janie Uppinghouse would make one of two free throws to go up 45-43. The Mavs inbounded the ball after a timeout in the Scots zone but couldn’t convert, sealing the Scots’ 46-43 victory.

The Lady Mavericks will play at Ferndale next Tuesday, Feb. 15, at  7:30 p.m. in a loser-out game.

Meadowdale scoring: Margreet Barhoum 19, Bianca Landa 10, Katie Rickel 1, Alyssa Reuble 2, Michaela O’Neill 6, Julianne Kossian 3, Ndey Sonko 2

Sports correspondent Quint Turner is a student at Meadowdale High School.