By Quint Turner

The site of the possible one-game playoff between the teams was determined before the beginning of the season. The importance of it would not be seen until two and a half months later. When the Everett Seagulls and the Meadowdale Mavericks played in the regular season, they split the two game series. Both teams won at home, but Everett won by one while Meadowdale won by 22. Once again, Everett held their advantage at home, winning by a score of 53-43 Monday night.

They won without getting a single point from their bench. Instead, Reece Hoiby and Gabe Woods combined for 32 points in the game to boost the Gulls past the Mavs. Torin Dooley had the most points for MHS, with 14, but it wasn’t enough to give his team the win in his last game as a Maverick.

Dooley got the first two points of the game when he drove through the Gull defense and hit a finger roll over two defenders for the two. But after Everett responded with a two of their own, Woods hit the first of his three threes of the game to put them up 5-2. The Gulls shot 4 for 14 from three-point range, and that doesn’t sound good until you compare it to the Mavs, who shot 1 for 19 from beyond the arc.

Still, it was only a four-point lead when Spencer Linton inbounded a pass to Charlie White right next to the basket, and he put it in to make it 7-5. Then White tied the game when he got an offensive rebound, and scored on the putback to make it 7-7. But Woods would have none of that. He hit another three with 1:45 left, and the Gulls went into the second leading 10-9.

The teams traded baskets early in the second to keep a three point lead for the Gulls, but Linton hit the only Maverick three of the night to tie the game at 14 with 4:00 to go. But guess who answered? It was Woods again, stroking another three from the corner, and it was 17-14. The Mavs recaptured the lead when Dooley went to the line after a tough drive, and he hit back-to-back free throws to put them up 18-17. Hoiby hit a three to put Everett up once again, and just before the half ended, Woods hit a two with White right in his face. Everett would be up 22-18 at the end of the half.

Continuing over from that last quarter, the Gulls went on a 6-0 run. The last two points came when Dooley saved a ball from going out of bounds by throwing it right at Jace Chacon, who was standing under the MHS basket and he scored to make it 26-18. But Matt Hirsch immediately followed, going coast-to-coast and laying it in to give Everett a 26-20 with 5:30 to play. Woods once again hit a tough floater over the MHS defense and increased the lead to 28-20. The teams traded a few baskets before the quarter ended, including an easy lay-up for Linton when White found him sitting under the rim with no one guarding him. Still, the Seagulls led by a score of 32-28 at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter had a promising start.  Linton pulled the Mavs to within two when he spun around a defender on his way to the rim and put up a lay-in. Then Woods shot right over White again for another tough basket, and it was 34-30. Cortez Carr preserved the 38-32 lead when he swatted away a Brian Feldhaus lay-in. A few plays after, Carr would get a putback dunk after a missed shot on a 6-0 run, pushing the Gulls to a 42-32 lead with 4:00 to go. White did a similar play on the other side, just without the dunk to make it an eight-point game.

But when the Mavs started having to resort to fouls to stop the clock, the Gulls delivered. The team didn’t go to the line once before the second half, and down the stretch, they hit 11 of 12 free throws to keep the distance between the teams. For the Mavs, they earned fouls throughout the game, but shot only 12 for 24 on free throws. Linton got the team within six when he hit a lay-up while being fouled, and then hit the free throw with :28 to go, but that would be as close as they got. The Seagulls won 53-43.

With the win, the Everett Seagulls go to the district tournament, playing Mountlake Terrace on Wednesday.

For the Mavs, their season is over. And for Dooley, Linton, Tyler Ackerman, Grantland Over, Feldhaus, and Hirsch, they all played their last Maverick game. Thank you for your commitment to Meadowdale basketball!

Meadowdale Scoreboard: Charlie White 7; Spencer Linton 10; Matt Hirsch 2; Brian Feldhaus 6; Torin Dooley 14; Barrett Carlow 2; Josiah Evans 2

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