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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Hoquiam ends Medical Lake boys’ season in 1A regional

By Kevin Dudley For The Spokesman-Review

Despite being more than 350 miles away, Hoquiam head coach Curtis Eccles knew plenty about the Medical Lake Cardinals.

That familiarity helped he Grizzlies to a 90-75 victory on Saturday in Cheney in a boys 1A regional matchup, sending Hoquiam back to state in Yakima. Medical Lake’s season is over.

“We had some game film on them and they had some clips on (MaxPreps.com),” Eccles said. “We knew about (Medical Lake’s Nizhole Sherman) and we played them this summer as well in team camp so we had a good look at them.”

The Grizzlies held Sherman to just eight points.

But it was what the Grizzlies did when they had the ball that made the difference. Medical Lake started the game in a two-three zone defense and forced the Grizzlies into tough shots and long possessions. The Cardinals held a 15-12 lead after the first quarter.

But Medical Lake switched to a man-to-man defense for much of the game and Hoquiam’s offense exploded for 27 points in the second quarter, 24 in the third and 27 in the final frame.

“We’re used to teams playing man against us,” Eccles said. “During film, we saw zone so the whole week we’ve been playing against zone just because we anticipated that.”

Jack Adams led the way for Hoquiam with 36 points. Jace Varner added 18 and Jarod Steen had 11 points, all in the second half.

The teams traded runs to open the second quarter, but then the floodgates opened for the Grizzlies. Medical Lake had no answer for Adams and Varner, two of three seniors who’ve been on the team since freshman.

“They have the experience and they’re hungry,” Eccles said of his seniors. “This is the same group that finished sixth last year….we want to get back and get another crack at it.”

Medical Lake’s Drew Hostetter finished with 18 points. Jacquez Johnson finished with 13.

The win meant the 16th-ranked Grizzlies – by the state’s new Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) system – upset the 8th-ranked Cardinals.

Eccles doesn’t see it as an upset and questioned the rankings system.

“I think (the RPI) is ridiculous and they really need to reevaluate it,” he said. “We’ve only lost to one 1A team, we’re now 17-1 versus teams our classification and lower. All those other losses have been to bigger schools so they really need to reevaluate how they seed teams.”