By Quint Turner

For two-and-a-half minutes in the fourth quarter, the Lady Mavs and Glacier Peak Grizzlies were tied at 46 points apiece. The teams went back and forth, either turning the ball over (MHS had 22 turnovers, GPHS had 26) or missing shots, until Tianna Nugent got a pass in the paint and made the lay-in to put the Mavs up 48-46 with 45 seconds. A Mackenzie Bretz free throw after the Grizzlies failed to convert was the last point of the game, as Kianna Garner’s three-point attempt with time expiring would not fall, and the Mavs hung on to a 49-46 victory over the second-best team in the Wesco South Division.

Bretz scored 17 points to lead all scorers while the 6-4 Nicole Fausey earned 13 for the Grizzlies to lead all GPHS scorers.

The Mavs tried to throw off the Grizzlies by double-teaming the ball carrier as much as possible, and it seemed to keep them off balance. Meadowdale got its first bucket of the game after a minute and a half when Sara Fjortoft drove by the defense and hit a lay-in. Sophia Gaffney did the exact same thing in response to tie the score at 2, and the game was on.

The Grizzlies tried a man-to-man defense to keep the Mavs from scoring, but Meadowdale had an early lead until the Grizzlies went on a 7-0 run after being down 9-6. Sophia Gaphney got an offensive rebound after a missed shot, and put it back up for two points, then Allie Weathersby hit the first three of the game for either team, putting the Grizzlies up 11-9 with 2:45 left to play in the first. The run was capped by India Smith’s steal and breakaway, followed by a lay-in to make it 13-9 Grizzlies with 2:45 left in the quarter, and the Mavs were down 15-10 at the end of the first.

Meadowdale started to come back in the second. Alyssa Reuble hit the first three for the Mavs to make it 17-15 Glacier Peak, and then Fjortoft drove past the defense in the paint and made the lay-in to tie the game at 17. The Mavs got into the double bonus with 5:30 left in the quarter after the 10th foul by the Grizzlies, but they didn’t take advantage of it too much. They only made six of 12 from the free throw line in the half, and 10 of 21 overall.

Fausey gave the Grizzlies the lead back when she spun away from the defense and hit a fade-away jump shot to make it 19-17 with 5:00 left. Taylor Baird stole an inbounds pass from the Mavs and took it the other way for a lay-in to put the Grizzlies up 21-17 with 4:30 left in the second quarter. Bretz did the exact same thing to the Grizzlies and hit a lay-in to make it 23-21 Glacier Peak with 3:00 left until half time. Neither team was able to get another basket for the rest of the half and the Grizzlies went into the third with a 23-21 lead.

The game went back-and-forth in the third quarter. After Fausey got another bucket while playing in the post, the Mavs started a 7-0 run. Nugent began by going into the paint and hitting a lay-in while being fouled to make it 25-23. Though she missed the free throw, the Mavs took the lead their next possession when Julianne Kossian hit a three-pointer to make it 26-25. Bretz made a lay-in afterward to cap the run, and Fausey broke up the run by hitting another tough shot in the paint to make it 28-27 Mavs.

With 3:00 to go in the quarter, the Grizzlies climbed to within one after Baird got a rebound after a missed free-throw and hit a putback to make it 34-33 Mavs. Then, Sawyer Manning hit a three-pointer to give the Grizzlies a 36-35 lead with 1:20 to go. Bretz didn’t let them keep that lead for long though. With 20 seconds left in the third, she drove past the Grizzly defense and made a lay-in to put the Mavs back up 37-36, and after three quarters.

Glacier Peak pulled ahead early in the fourth quarter, and took a four-point lead when Gaffney hit a three to make it 43-39 with 6:00 to go. The Mavs struggled for the first part of the quarter, but they kept in the game with solid defense. Kossian hit another three with 5:05 to go to make it a 44-43 Glacier Peak game. Fausney responded with a two-pointer in the post to make it 46-43.

After that, Bretz hit a lay-in while being fouled, and she hit the free throw to tie the game at 46 apiece with 3:00 to play. The offenses sputtered out for the next 2-plus minutes, as neither side could buy a basket. Finally, Nugent managed to get open in the paint and scored a lay-in with 45 seconds left in the game to put the Mavs up 48-46. After another empty possession by the Grizzlies, Bretz was fouled coming over half-court with 17.7 seconds left. She hit the first of the free throws, but missed the second, and the Grizzlies had a chance to tie. Sarah Smith took the ball up the court and with ten seconds to go, she drove into the paint and tried a lay-in, but it did not fall. The ball bounced on the floor, and the rebound was fought for before it got to Kianna Garner. She put up a three-point attempt that fell short, Nugent grabbed the ball with two seconds left, and time expired before the Grizzlies could foul her. The Mavs won by a score of 49-46.

With the win, the Mavs improve to 3-3 (2-1 in conference). Their next game is next Thursday, Dec. 20, at home versus Shorecrest at 7:15 p.m.. That is Meadowdale’s last game before they head to San Diego on Dec. 27 to play in a tournament. As for the Grizzlies, they fall to 3-3 (1-1 in conference). Their next game is against Shorewood next Tuesday at home at 7:15 p.m.

Sport correspondent Quint Turner is a student at Meadowdale High School.