Metro All-Stars roll to win

The annual Jack Blair Memorial Girls AAU Basketball Classic at University High Wednesday was strictly a hands-on experience for the Metro All-Stars.

The Metro defense made life miserable for their Region counterparts in a 74-40 victory, its 13th straight.

The 34-point victory margin was the largest by a Metro team. The 40 allowed were the fewest scored by the Region All-Stars in Jack Blair Memorial history.

The Region team could scarcely get a pass or shot off in its offense without a Metro deflection or hand on the ball.

The result was a huge early turnover advantage in the Metro’s favor and a 30-9 run over a 15-minute period that included the first minute of the second half. The Metro led 43-19 and the game was out of reach.

“They just worked well together as a team,” said Gonzaga Prep’s Mike Arte, head coach of the Metro team. “They had good on-ball defense and good help defense. I was pretty impressed.”

Region coach Dale Poffenroth didn’t disagree.

“They were a little bit bigger and quicker,” the Coeur d’Alene’s girls coach said. “When we made that first pass, they got a hand on it.”

All 11 Metro players scored, including Lewis and Clark’s Heather Bowman, who was State MVP for the State 4A champion Tigers.

She had 10 of her game high 14 points in the first half.

Jack Blair MVP and LC teammate Katelan Redmon finished with 12 points, split between the 20-minute college halves, and eight rebounds.

Shadle Park sophomore Lexie Pettersen ignited two runs in the first half that helped Metro pull away after leading just 13-10 and 29-19. She finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds.

“This was a lot of fun,” Pettersen said. “These are good basketball players and it’s great competition.”

The Region team could never get going. Blue-clad Metro defenders were in their faces making passing difficult.

If the ball got into the paint, no shot was uncontested. Metro players ended up with 30 more shot attempts and, though neither team shot for percentage, scored twice as many field goals.

Leading Region scorers were posts, Coeur d’Alene sophomore Deanna Dotts and Lakeland senior Brigitte Boucher, with eight points each.

“I come from a really small school,” said Sprague-Harrington junior guard Roni Jo Meilke. “This was a whole other world.”

Meilke was named the game’s most inspirational player.

Redmon said she was flattered at being named the game’s most valuable player.

“Everybody played well. It was a tossup,” she said. “But this was a lot of fun.”