There was just too much talent on the floor
STATE 4A TOURNAMENT
When was the last time you were at a girls' high school basketball game and the teams combined for 41 points in a quarter?
But that's exactly what Mead and Jackson did in the opening quarter of their tournament opener with the Panthers scoring 23 of the points. Mead didn't slow down either, winning the first-round matchup in a blowout, 74-59.
Mead showed much more depth of talent than the Timberwolves, as Jackson relies on Kristi Kingma outside and Brittany Eskridge inside.
Other than that, not so much.
The Panthers, in contrast, received contributions from almost everyone.
Senior guard Alysha Green came out hot and scored 11 points in the first quarter (she finished with 18). But she also picked up two fouls and spent most of the second quarter on the bench, cheering instead of scoring. She had a lot to cheer about.
Freshman Alexis Olgard, besides using her 6-foot-5 size to bother the 6-2 Eskridge, contributed on the offensive end. So did seniors Kami Clark and Kelli Valentine, who had 14 points at the half and finished with 23. Freshmen Kristina Puthoff and Jazmine Redmon helped spark the defensive effort.
At the half, Mead led 39-29 after having shot 60 percent from the floor. The Panthers finished at 56 percent.
Kingma, who played on the Spokane Stars' elite team last summer, tried to do it all for Jackson and she almost did. She ended up with 31 points, but had to take 30 shots to get there.
You can find the game story here.