By Quint Turner

Watch out, Wesco 3A. The sleeping giant of the Meadowdale High School girls basketball team has finally awoken, and they are gaining momentum. Going up against a tough Everett Seagull team, the Mavs finally had their offense come alive as Margreet Barhoum scored 23, and nine other players notched at least two points to propel the Mavs to an important conference win Friday night at home. On the Seagulls’ side, it was Sidney Rielly to lead all EHS scorers, getting 19 points, but they would fall short, 68-46.

The Mavericks came out playing their pressure defense, and it worked really well. They forced eight turnovers in the first quarter and prevented any easy looks for the Seagulls. The Mavs’ offense was fired up from the beginning. They went up 9-0 after Alyssa Reuble hit a deep three, and that was not even two minutes in. After Rielly responded with a three of her own to get the Gulls on the board, the Mavs went on an 11-0 run to start putting some distance between the two. The team shot 8 of 19 from the three-point line, giving Meadowdale a huge cushion all game. The Mavs were up 20-4 at the end of the first.

In the second, the Seagulls showed some signs of life. Right out of the gate, Aliya Davis hit a three pointer to make it just 20-7. On the other side, the Mavericks were panicking a little, as they had seven turnovers in the quarter and gave some hope to the Gulls. Darian Rielly got a mid-court steal and took it the other way for a lay-in to make it just 24-12. After another three for the Gulls (who shot 5 of 16 from beyond the arc), the Mavs started to get back to playing like the first. Sara Fjortoft threw a sling-shot pass right over the Everett D to an open Alisa Sagdahl for an easy basket to make it 26-15 with 3:00 to go. Counting that bucket, the Mavs went on a 9-2 run to close out the quarter, and more importantly, extended their lead to 33-18.

Barhoum really started to pick it up in the third. Early on, she drove through the entire Everett defense and hit a lay-up in traffic to put them up 38-18. But she didn’t just score, she could pass just as well. Barhoum threw a pass over everyone in a play similar to Fjortoft’s pass, and the ball got to Sagdahl for another two points and a 40-19 lead. Everett had a tough time in the quarter, getting only 9 points and notching six turnovers in the quarter. Barhoum showed all of her skills when she hit a three pointer from the top of the arc, then stole the ball, started driving through the defense and hit a lay-in in traffic to put the Mavs up 48-24. This was part of a 13-0 run that ended when Barhoum hit another long three to make it 56-24, Mavs. The score after three was 58-27.

In the fourth, the Mavs were just closing the game out. The Seagulls gave them a good scare though, as they exploded and put up 19 points on the MHS defense. With 3:48 to go, Kiki Harper hit an open three to make it 63-38, and Sidney Rielly stole a ball at mid-court and took it the other way to make it 65-42. But the surge would not last, and finally the Mavericks were able to come away with the 68-46 win.

With the victory, the Mavs improve to 6-8 (5-5 in conference), and their next game is at Marysville-Getchell on Tuesday, at 7:15 p.m.

Meadowdale Scoreboard: Sara Fjortoft 2; Margreet Barhoum 23; Tianna Nugent 2; Katie Rickel 3; Alyssa Reuble 7; Jaclyn Barhoum 2; Julianne Kossian 5; Mackenzie Bretz 12; Madison Parker 4; Alisa Sagdahl 8

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