Prep girls basketball: Powell leads Mavs to key league win over Eagles

Gia Powell drives to the hoop and scores for Meadowdale Friday. (Photos by Scott Williams)

After four straight seasons of capturing the 2A/3A Wesco League regular-season title, the Arlington Eagles have ruled supreme in local girls prep basketball. But on Friday, the Meadowdale Mavericks made a case that they may be the ones to knock the Eagles off their perch and challenge for the league championship this year.

The Mavericks used a big third quarter from their team scoring leader Gia Powell and defeated Arlington 67-59 in a showdown of Wesco League contenders at Meadowdale High School.

Powell scored 12 of her 20 points in the third quarter to help the Mavs erase a 33-27 halftime deficit and push their way to the important league victory.

Meadowdale (4-0 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 6-1 overall) outscored the Eagles 24-11 in the fateful third quarter; the Mavericks punctuated the quarter with an 11-0 run in its final two minutes, a stretch that included two Powell long-range buckets from beyond the 3-point arc.

Lisa Sonko fights for a rebound

Arlington (3-1 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 4-1 overall) had taken control of the first half with a 12-2 run when Powell, called for her third foul with 3:24 to go before halftime, had to retreat to the bench with just one point. But the senior wasn’t too concerned with her early foul trouble and low point production.

“Honestly I wasn’t too upset about it,” Powell said. “It’s kind of similar to the Everett game — I started out pretty weak. I had two points at the start of the second half, and I knew I was going to come back and shots were going to start hitting.”

On Dec. 12, Powell scored 18 points in a Mavs’ victory over the Everett Seagulls after tallying just two points in the contest’s first half.

Payton Fleishman drains a 3 in the third quarter.

Powell had plenty of help in the Mavericks’ win over the Eagles, Payton Fleishman came off the bench and scored 13 points — all but one point coming off of long-range 3-pointers. Meadowdale shot 4-for-7 from beyond the 3-point line in the third quarter, with all four 3-pointers converted by Fleishman and Powell.

Meadowdale post Audrey Lucas added 11 points in the game, 10 coming in the first half.

Arlington was led by senior Samara Morrow with a game-high 21 points; senior Katie Snow contributed 16 points in the loss.

Kaiya Dotter finishes the break for the Mavs.

Friday’s victory was the first for Powell in her high school playing career over an Arlington squad. “It feels good,” Powell said. “They’re a tough team. They’re competitive, they’re well-coached. It’s always a good (game) playing them and it feels good, my senior year, finally getting a win.”

Meadowdale’s next game is a Saturday, Dec. 16 non-league matchup against the undefeated (4-0 overall) Lake Washington Kangaroos — a team that, like Arlington, played in the WIAA 3A Girls Basketball Tournament at the Tacoma Dome last March. Tipoff of the Mavs-Kangs clash is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Meadowdale High School.

The Mavericks cheer squad.

Prep Girls Basketball: Arlington at Meadowdale, Dec. 15

Arlington 13 20 11 15 59

Meadowdale 16 11 24 16 67

Meadowdale scoring: Gia Powell 20, Payton Fleishman 13, Audrey Lucas 11, Samantha Medina 9, Mia Brockmeyer 5, Kaiya Dotter 4, Lexi Zardis 3, Lisa Sonko 2, Kylie Richards

Arlington scoring: Samara Morrow 21, Katie Snow 16, Kierra Reese 8, Kailee Anderson 7, Addi Green 3, Jersey Walker 2, Tatum Carbajal 2, Rachel Snow, Khari Deberry

Records: Meadowdale 4-0 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 6-1 overall; Arlington 3-1 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 4-1 overall

Meadowdale next game: versus Lake Washington; Saturday, Dec. 16; 5 p.m. at Meadowdale High School

— By Doug Petrowski

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