Medical Lake Focuses On Mental Toughness

The Medical Lake boys finished the basketball season last year tied for second, but Coach Dave Olzendam said things could have been better.

Mental lapses at the end of a number of games cost the Cardinals key victories.

“We had a few games where we had it won, and we didn’t finish it off,” Olzendam said.

Fortunately, he says, the core group of returning players is already showing a mental toughness he never saw last season. That group includes senior Carlos Simmons, a 5-foot-7 all-league point guard who scored 12 points a game last year and averaged five assists.

Simmons scored 29 points in Medical Lake’s double-overtime 82-80 win over Riverside on Friday, including a 19-foot jump shot that won the game at the buzzer.

Medical Lake girls Coach Casey Dorrel said going 1-19 during his first year at the school was “a learning experience.”

This season, Dorrel says it’s already obvious he’s got better players than a year ago. But it’s going to take more than just athleticism to get the Cardinal girls back on track, Dorrel says.

Take, for example, perennial Northeast A powerhouses Lakeside and Colfax, he said.

“Sure, they’ve got good athletes, but when they walk on the court, they expect to win,” he said. “We just need to get some wins under our belt. I think that it’s just a kind of hump that we need to get over.”

The Cardinal girls opened on Friday, falling 50-32 to Reardan.

ML boys have team balance

“It’s a different look for us, that’s for sure,” said coach Olzendam, who lost a pair of seniors last year that included an all-league selection. “This year, we can play 10 guys and not hesitate rotating in the people. The talent is pretty even.”

Joining Simmons in the backcourt will be junior Andre Jackson (5-11), senior Chris Campbell (6-1), junior Richard Brown (5-8), junior Chad Hedlee (5-10), and Ryan Shirley (6-0). Sophomore Josh Early (5-10) also joins the varsity this year.

“Before this is all over, this is going to be a good group,” Olzendam said, explaining that the Cardinals have a good mix of young ball handlers, shooters, and big men. “We’ve got quickness at the guard spots, and we’re going to try to get it down low if the break doesn’t work.”

Three big juniors, brothers Brandon Moore (6-3) and Vince Moore (6-4), and Freddy Miller (6-4), will play in the paint, along with Jeremy Bahr, a rangy 6-5 sophomore from whom Olzendam expects big things.

New faces in ML girls’ line-up

“I wish I could tell you right now who’s going to start,” said coach Dorrel last week.

Ordinarily missing three practices - canceled during the ice storm - wouldn’t have been a big deal. After all, the other schools missed out, too.

But because Dorrel has only four players returning from last year’s varsity, he said he’s scrambling just to figure out where the girls will play.

A couple things are certain. Senior Jenne Duckett, a 5-6 wing who led the Cardinals last year in a number of statistical categories, is back. So is Nicole French (5-4), a junior point guard who Dorrel calls “the best defensive player on the team.”

Junior Kristina Blaine (5-4), a point guard, and senior wing Tria Tschirley (5-6) also return with varsity experience.

Joining them this year will be senior transfer Kathryn Conely, a 5-2 point guard who played in Alaska last year.

“We’ll play 10 or 11 players deep this year, so we can press and utilize our quickness,” Dorrel said.

Juniors Jessica Muelken (5-8), a post, and Amanda Monroe (5-9), who Dorrel said “knows how to score,” join the team from last year’s junior varsity, along with junior wing Kim Erickson (5-7). Posts Jessica Ramirez (5-8), Brandy Knapp (5-10), and Reanna Simmons (5-7), are all juniors.

“The way I look at it, we only have one way to go,” Dorrel says. “I think it helps because I know the kids now. I’m not coming in blind like last season.”