By Quint Turner

When the first quarter has a combined point total of 11, you don’t expect too much out of either offense in the rest of the game. But the Meadowdale Mavericks somehow managed to finally start scoring in the third, getting 24 points, which was more than the combined points for the Everett Seagulls throughout the first three quarters (17). The Mavs ended with a 55-31 conference win Friday night, and Matt Hirsch led all scorers with 14.

The first was not too exciting. Both sides held onto the ball for most of the 35 seconds they had to shoot, but it didn’t lead to any scoring. The Mavs had a 3-0 lead through 4 minutes thanks to 3 free throws, and the first field goal in the game came when Everett’s Reece Hoiby hit a 12-foot jumper to make it 3-2. The Mavs continued to drive the ball in order to draw fouls, as five of their seven points in the quarter came off free throws. Barrett Carlow hit the first MHS field goal on a mid-range jumper to make it 7-2 Mavs with 1:12 left. The only other basket came when Will Richardson of Everett drove through the Mavs’ zone defense and layed it in. The score was 7-4 Meadowdale after one.

The Seagulls tied the game for the second time when Hoiby made a tough lay-up in traffic, drew a foul and hit the free throw to make it 7-7. After the Seagulls took a 10-9 lead, Spencer Linton hit the first three of the game for either team, and it put the Mavs up for the rest of the game. Everett tied it again after Gabe Woods made a great pass on a breakaway to Unikque Thibou for a lay-in right after. The Mavs eventually kept driving and drawing fouls to make important free throws to keep the lead. The last basket of the half came when Carlow scored an easy lay-in after Torin Dooley stole a pass, went on the breakaway and got it to him, making it 18-12 as the half ended.

The third was when the Mavs finally broke through and scored a bunch of points (24 to be exact), and it started when Dooley had an amazing behind-the-back pass from the baseline to Charlie White for two, making it 24-12. The Mavs played fantastic defense in the third, forcing 11 turnovers, with most of them coming when Dooley anticipated a pass cross-court and went on the breakaway. This was a common occurrence.

The Mavs capped a 14-0 run that started in the second as Dooley stole another cross-court pass and layed it in on the breakaway. Sam Arends of Everett tried keeping his team in the game by blocking a lay-up try by White, but the gap was too much. Dooley knocked down a deep 3 and it was 34-14 MHS with 1:29 left in the quarter. The third quarter for the Gulls was summed up when an inbounds pass went past Jace Chacon and out of bounds with no one touching the ball. The Mavs ended the quarter up 40-17.

The fourth was just the Mavericks closing the game out. Dooley had a tremendous spin move to get to the basket for an easy lay-in early on, making it 46-19. With four minutes remaining, Carlow increased the lead to 51-23 when he faked a pass to Dooley and hit a wide-open three to signal the end of the game. The Seagulls finally hit their first three of the game as Steven Tran drained a wide-open shot from the corner with one minute left. In the last ten seconds, the Gulls broke the 30-point barrier when Hoiby made back-to-back layups.

The Mavs play Saturday at home in the Rubber Chicken match versus Edmonds-Woodway. The boys play at 7 p.m. while the girls play at 5:15 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on Warrior Radio.

Meadowdale Scoreboard: Charlie White 4, Spencer Linton 7, Matt Hirsch 14, Brian Feldhaus 8, Torin Dooley 10, Barrett Carlow 10, Tyler Ackerman 2

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