By Quint Turner

With three games to go in the regular season, the Lady Mavs have clinched a spot in the Wesco district playoffs, thanks to a stellar performance by Margreet Barhoum. Barhoum had 32 points, leading all scorers and netting over half the Mavs’ points, to help Meadowdale earn a 62-38 win over the Shorecrest Scots Friday night. Not only did she shoot the ball well, the whole team did. They went 10 for 18 from three-point range to get way out in front of the Scots, who only shot 4 of 23 from beyond the arc. Brianne Lasconia added 21 points for the Scots, but it would not be enough.

The Mavs took an 8-0 lead early in the first, and they didn’t look back after. After Barhoum netted a three, she got a pass in the paint from Mackenzie Bretz, and finger-rolled a lay-up in traffic to put the Mavs up 5-0. Then the Mavs trap D forced a turnover, and Alyssa Reuble swished a three, and it was 8-0 four minutes in.

Janie Uppinghouse knocked down a three to get the first points on the board for the Scots, but the Mavs would respond right away. Julianne Kossian got wide open and shot a three that bounced off the top of the rim way in the air, then again off the rim, and finally went in to make it an 11-5 game. Barhoum added another three, and the Mavs shot 4 of 5 from the three-point line in the first to give them a 14-7 lead at the end of the quarter.

The Scots weren’t letting the Mavs win so easily though. One minute in, Lasconia ripped a three to make it just a 16-10 game. They were looking to close the gap more when Barhoum took a pass away and got the ball up to Kossian for an easy lay-up, and it was 18-10 MHS. Allison Jones would respond by throwing up a three to cut the deficit back to six, but Kossian answered with a three of her own, and it was 22-13 Mavs.

Lasconia took an errant pass away from one of the Mavs and went through three defenders on a breakaway to net another two points, and it was 22-15. But Katie Rickel decided to step up and she delivered a three to make it 25-15. The Mavs finished the quarter strong when Barhoum penetrated deep into the Scots zone defense and got it to a wide-open Tianna Nugent for an easy lay-up as the buzzer sounded. It was 31-20 Lady Mavs at the half, during which Meadowdale shot 6 of 10 from three-point range.

The Mavericks started the third with a 6-0 run, with four of those points coming from free throws. The team switched strategies after the first half from an outside shooting force to a driving offense, and they started earning shooting fouls. The Scots got on the scoreboard in the half when Mickey Greenburg lobbed a pass from the top of the key down to Onyie Chibuogwu for a bucket to make it 37-22.

Then Greenburg, on the next possession, drove right past the Maverick D and scored on a lay-up, and was fouled on the play. She added the extra point, and it was only 38-25. But Kossian squashed any comeback hopes when she swished a deep three to make it 43-25 with 4:00 to go in the quarter. A few minutes later, it was Barhoum again hitting a three to make it 46-29. Lasconia earned a basket before the horn sounded when she drove through the Mavs defense and got an easy lay-in to give the Mavs a 46-31 lead going into the fourth.

The fourth was all Barhoum. She scored 14 of her 32 points in this quarter, and 14 of the Mavs’ 16 fourth-quarter total. Nugent got the only other points when she got isolated from the defense, and went from the back corner to the front of the net for a simple tap-in, and it was 48-32. But Lasconia wouldn’t go down quietly. She had a sweet crossover move that allowed her to get to the rim and finish the play on a floater to make it 48-36.

But then Barhoum took over. She single-handedly got a 6-0 run, including two points on a steal that lead to a lay-in on the breakaway, and it was 54-36 after that. Then Lasconia had another great drive and score to get it to 54-38. Barhoum would then hit a three and a mid-range jumper before scoring the last points of the game on another three, and the Mavs closed out the game with a 62-38 win.

With the win, the Mavs clinch districts with the record of 9-9 (8-6 in conference), and have a chance to get up to the third seed in district seeding.

Meadowdale Scoreboard: Margreet Barhoum 32; Tianna Nugent 4; Katie Rickel 3; Alyssa Reuble 3; Julianne Kossian 11; Mackenzie Bretz 4; Madison Parker 1; Alisa Sagdahl 4

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