By Quint Turner

Once again, the Meadowdale Mavericks girls basketball team was in a tight contest late in the game. The Scots were up 41-39 Saturday, and the Mavs had 15 seconds to get a bucket. Mackenzie Bretz tried to drive and draw a foul with a lay-in, but it wouldn’t fall. Katie Rickel got the rebound and passed the ball to Alisa Sagdahl, whose three skimmed off the rim and to a Scot who was immediately fouled with 0.3 seconds remaining. That was followed by another Scot free throw and the final tally was a 42-39 loss for the Mavs.

The three-point shooting gave the Scots a slight edge, but neither converted a high percentage: The Mavs shot 2 for 17 from behind the arc, while the Scots sank 4 of 20. Margreet Barhoum led all scorers with 15, while Brianne Lasconia led all Scots with 14.

Half of the threes for the Scots came on their first two attempts. Janie Uppinghouse hit one right away, and after Alyssa Reuble of the Mavs drove right through the D for a lay-in, Uppinghouse hit another to put Shorecrest up 6-2 two minutes in. But following that three, the Mavs went on to a 9-0 run, thanks to the defense forcing 10 turnovers in the quarter. The Mavs took an 8-6 lead when Sara Fjortoft stole a pass at midcourt and went on a breakaway for a lay-in. The Mavs capped off the run with a three from Reuble to make it 11-6. The teams traded baskets until the end of the quarter came with Meadowdale up 15-13.

The second quarter started well for the Mavs. Barhoum split four defenders and hit a one-handed floater right away, and it was a four-point lead. Lasconia did the same thing to the Maverick defense in response. Then, Uppinghouse got a steal and took it the other way for a lay-in, and the lead was just 21-19. But the Mavs would take a five-point advantage when Bretz hit the only other three of the game for the Mavs, and it was 24-19. With 15 seconds to go, Lasconia got the ball at the top of the key and stroked a three, and the Mavs were up just 24-22 at the end of the half.

The third was where physical play started to boil over. Both sides were getting away with a lot of contact, and it worked out in Shorecrest’s favor. Mickey Greenburg got an offensive rebound and hit the putback to tie the game up at 26, and the teams continued to trade baskets. After Shorecrest took a 30-28 lead with 4:00 to go, Sagdahl hit a tough jumper in the key to tie it right back up. In response, Uppinghouse hit her final three of the game to put the Scots up 33-30.

It really looked like the Scots had adjusted well to the Meadowdale press, as they only had three turnovers in the quarter. But the Mavs weren’t out of it yet. Barhoum drove through the defense and hit a tough lay-in over India Matheson to make it a 35-32 game. That would be the score at the end of three.

The Scots started the fourth on a 5-0 run, and when the combined final score is 81 points, those five points can make the difference. Matheson drove the baseline for an easy lay-in to make it a 38-32 lead, and the team tacked on a few free throws to get to the 40-32 lead. The Scots only shot 3 of 8 from the free throw line, compared to the 13 of 14 for the Mavs.

Down by 8, the Mavs came right back and went on a 7-0 run of their own. Barhoum hit two free throws with 4:30 to go to stop the Scots’ run, followed by five free throws and a bucket from Sagdahl off a pass from Barhoum.

The Mavs stopped the Scots with 52.6 remaining, and got the ball back. However, they didn’t do anything with it since a pass to Barhoum was knocked away, and was ruled to be over and back with 28.5 to go. Uppinghouse was fouled with 22.1 left, and she hit only the first shot of a one and one to make it a 41-39 game. Then the Mavs took timeout with 15.6 to go to draw up a play. It resulted in Bretz driving for a lay-up that wouldn’t go, and a missed three by Sagdahl with 3 seconds remaining, and the Scots held on to a 42-39 win.

With the win, the Scots go on to play the winner of Glacier Peak and Lynnwood for the district championship Feb. 18 at Lynnwood, at 7:30 p.m. The Mavs will play the winner of Shorewood and Ferndale on Feb.15, with the game at either Meadowdale or Ferndale, at 7:30 p.m.

Meadowdale Scorerboard: Sara Fjortoft 4; Margreet Barhoum 15; Katie Rickel 2; Alyssa Reuble 7; Mackenzie Bretz 7; Alisa Sagdahl 4

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