Cardinals Win Fresh Perspective By Breaking String Of Losses
In the closing minutes of their non-league game last week against East Valley, the Medical Lake girls basketball team must have been waiting for a disaster to happen.
Waiting for the game to be canceled due to some natural calamity. Waiting for the sky to fall. Anything to keep them from snapping their 28-game losing streak.
For the record, there were no earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. The heavens are still intact.
The Cardinals won 52-45, snapping a two-season-long losing streak. When the buzzer finally sounded, the girls still couldn’t believe it.
“Jenne Duckett (Medical Lake’s point guard) said she looked up at the scoreboard with 20 seconds to go and wanted to run off the court then,” said post Brandy Knapp. “It was pretty hard not to cry.”
Duckett scored 19 against the Knights to lead ML in scoring, followed by Jessica Ramirez, who had 18.
Last year’s ML girls team beat the Mead C-squad team in what amounted to an exhibition game. “That one didn’t really count,” said Knapp, who scored 10 against EV.
“We wanted to win one for the seniors,” she said. “After the game, it was really loud in the locker room. Everybody was crying.”
On Friday the Cardinals dumped Kettle Falls 66-51 for their first Panorama league win since Knapp and teammate Nicole French were freshmen.
“It was awesome,” said French, explaining that after the win over East Valley, the team has new life. “With Kettle Falls, we actually expected to win. We had a lot of confidence.”
Knapp had 15 points against Kettle Falls, with Ramirez scoring 12. Duckett scored 10 and Amanda Monroe added nine points.
After the two big wins, the Cardinals were beaten by a tough Colfax team last Saturday night, 80-27.
Friday night, Medical Lake takes on Deer Park, which beat the Cardinals earlier in the season.
‘Libalia Spancers’ look to districts
Among basketball-happy Bi-County schools, turnout for wrestling teams is, well, small.
Just ask Ryan Murphy, who splits time coaching the Liberty Lancers and Rosalia Spartans. There are just 20 wrestlers total from the schools, located about 20 minutes from each other.
The Liberty and Rosalia boys practice together and travel together. Only their matches are scored separately.
Liberty is now 5-5, including a win over Rosalia, while Rosalia has yet to win a meet.
“When we go to other schools, we call ourselves the ‘Libalia Spancers,”’ Murphy said. “In almost all respects, except for scoring, it’s pretty much like being one team. Everybody gets along well.”
From Liberty, 108-pound Jason Marburg has wrestled tough all year, and Murphy said he’ll drop down to 101 pounds for the Bi-County districts on Saturday.
“He decided to wrestle at 108 during the season because it made him tougher,” Murphy said.
Pat Conley, at 122 pounds, is undefeated in league matches at that weight. Dan Melwhinney, a lean 158-pounder, placed third and second in tournaments at Davenport and Pullman.
Murphy expects both to advance beyond districts.
The coach said a pair of Spartan wrestlers could figure in post-season action.
On two separate occasions this year, 215-pound Jeremy Kelsey has pinned Ben Eggleston, Chewelah’s runner-up at the prestigious Tri-State Tourney. Murphy said Kelsey could be a surprise at state this year.
Adam Riser, a 115-pounder, finished second for Rosalia at the Pullman tournament in December and is expected to do well at Saturday’s district tourney.
Medical Lake boys falter
After being ranked as high as third in Washington state A basketball polls, the Medical Lake Cardinals have dropped three of their past four basketball games, including Saturday night’s 69-56 setback at Colfax.
“To be honest with you, I really don’t know the answer,” ML coach Dave Olzendam said after his team fell to second place in the Panorama league. “We’re going through a time when we need to tighten up defensively.”
Medical Lake plays Deer Park on Friday and Newport on Saturday. With only two weeks to go until districts, look for Olzendam to tinker with the Cardinal’s defensive approach.
“We need to get back to playing like we were at the beginning of the year,” he said. “The killer instinct - we’ve got to get that back.”
Ferris boys beat Central Valley
When Wayne Gilman was asked early Sunday afternoon if the Super Bowl had begun yet, he didn’t miss a beat with his reply.
It’s already over, Gilman said.
“The football game was on Friday when we played Central Valley,” he explained.
Referees told Ferris and CV players before the game they were going to “let them play a bit.” Their warning still wasn’t enough to prepare Gilman for the bruise-fest that ensued.
Despite the fact that the teams were called for just 42 fouls combined - not an extraordinarily high number - the game threatened to spiral out of control early in the fourth quarter as players’ passions flared.
Ferris composed itself, then won the game 42-37 on the strength of Jeremy Lucke’s five points in the last minute and Justin Bursch’s late-game free throws.
Gilman recalled last season, when his Saxons won the Greater Spokane League title but failed to make it to state. Then, referees allowed rough play at the regional tourney, which Gilman said may have disrupted the rhythm of his 1996 team.
If it’s going to be a similar situation this year, the Ferris coach said he’d prefer that his players become accustomed to it now against teams like CV. But it’s not what he prefers.
“It’s not the way basketball should be played,” Gilman said. “I prefer a finesse game.”