The Meadowdale Mavericks had their way with the visiting Mountlake Terrace girls basketball team, beating the Hawks 46-29 in a Wesco League South Conference game played Wednesday at Meadowdale High School.
Meadowdale is now 1-5 in Wesco League South play, 4-9 overall; the Hawks are still looking for their first conference victory, and now stand at 0-6, 2-10 overall.
With wins hard to come by in the extremely tough 3A Wesco League, Mavs Coach Caitlyn Houvener toasted her squad Wednesday night for grabbing their first conference victory of the year. “It’s great, especially on our home court,” she said. “That’s extra special. Our league is super strong.”
The Mavs have had challenges with gathering their full squad around the table for games this year; on Wednesday they were almost back to a full house. The most notable return was junior Sarah Haughney, who had been traveling overseas with family for the past three weeks.
“Her brother is over in Italy so they took a family vacation over there during the holiday break,” Houvener explained of Haughney’s recent absence from the team. “She’s finally back.”
Haughney scored five points for Meadowdale Wednesday on a night when every player available on the squad played, but no one scored in double figures. Grace Wilson led the team in scoring with eight points.
Injuries have also hampered the Mavs some this year, Houvener said, but the squad is nearly back to full strength. “Kaeli (McKinley) is still out with an ankle injury; that’s the only girl were missing right now,” Houvener stated.
It was not only a nearly-full roster for the Mavs on Wednesday, but a full effort on the boards that left them satisfied. Meadowdale dished up a big 47-26 rebounding advantage over Mountlake Terrace in the game.
Terrace Coach Jesica Anissipour saw her Hawks’ squad get too aggressive, leading to easy opportunities for the hungry Mavericks.
“It was one of those things where my girls didn’t stay in position on defense,” Anissipour said. “They’ve got to stay in their positions and not overplay because then they put the next girl on the team in trouble. They’re shifting too hard; that’s a big problem because our opponents are going to find the openings on offense.”
On their offensive end, Terrace was led in scoring by the 10 points of Nohea Morrison.
Despite the defeat, Anissipour still walked away from the gathering satisfied. “They’re all learning still,” she said of her squad. “When they do little things I’m still proud of them, win or lose. They’re learning and they’re starting to incorporate what they’re learning into games.”
Prep Girls Basketball: Mountlake Terrace at Meadowdale, Jan. 13
Mountlake Terrace 8 5 5 11 — 29
Meadowdale 10 12 12 12 — 46
Mountlake Terrace scoring: Nohea Morrison 10, Jorie Lambert 5, Claire Zucker 4, Aynika Nuckles 3, Torry DeAlba 3, Eliza Sandoval 2, Jazz Zenk 2, Brianna Houtman, Trinity Prout
Meadowdale scoring: Grace Wilson 8, Selina Tekle 7, Kassidi Dotter 7, Adriana Valadez 6, Eva Taylor 5, Sarah Haughney 5, Emma Helm 4, Ngozi Ezeokeke 2, Lauren Hunnewell 2, Emily Carroll
Records: Mountlake Terrace 0-6 in Wesco League South play, 2-10 overall; Meadowdale 1-5 in Wesco League South play, 4-9 overall
Mountlake Terrace next game: versus Shorewood, Friday, Jan. 15, 7:15 p.m. at Mountlake Terrace High School
Meadowdale next game: versus Edmonds-Woodway, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 7:15 p.m. at Meadowdale High School
— By Doug Petrowski
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