Unselfishness lifts Medical Lake

There are several reasons why the Medical Lake Cardinal girls basketball team is making noise in the Great Northern League this season, but if you ask their coach, the main reason is an easy one.

“They’re unselfish,” head coach Val Von Lehe said of her young squad that boasts just two seniors. Half of the roster is made up of sophomores or freshmen. “It’s an unselfish team. It’s a credit to them as individuals. We’ve bonded together as a team and they’ve done what they had to do. They don’t care who gets the ball, they want the end result.”

The Cardinals are more than unselfish. They personify sharing the basketball. Their leading scorer, junior post player Chelsea Hardenbrook, doesn’t average double figures, going for 9.8 points a game. Sophomore guard Kaitlin McNeill follows at 8.7, and sophomore center Gabrielle Daily at 8 points per contest. Daily is the leading rebounder at 7.5 a game, followed by junior post Marissa Propeck at 6.6 and senior center Ariel Jones at 5.7 a contest. If there ever was a team that defined balance, this Cardinal squad might be it.

“All of our girls are really close,” said McNeill. “We don’t play for one of us. When we’re in a game, it’s for all of us. It’s for the team. It’s not about stats for us. It’s about getting the win.”

“We just all love the game of basketball,” said Propeck, who is a team co-captain along with senior Lindsey Murray. “We don’t care about our individual stats. We just like to play. It makes it even more fun when we win. We like to do anything possible to make that happen.”

If the Cardinal team could be viewed as a race car, Propeck might be seen as the engine that keeps it running.

“She’s a worker,” said Von Lehe. “She’ll work her tail off on defense. If we need to have a stop defensively, I always put her on the person we have to stop. I really rely on her. If the girls leave the locker room a mess, they know they have some discipline to answer to. Marissa is always the last one to leave to make sure everything’s cleaned up and the girls don’t have to work extra. That’s just the kind of kid Marissa is. She’s always there. She’s a workhorse, and she’s a smart player.”

Daily, whose sister Richelle was the GNL Most Valuable Player last season for the Cardinals, and is now playing at Spokane Falls Community College, has been along with Jones, the steadying post play Medical Lake has leaned on all season.

“She’s a workhorse for us and a force underneath the boards,” Von Lehe said. “She’s very quick and she can stop their big man, along with Ariel Jones. Ariel’s a senior and has played very well for us. Both of them have done well in the post position. Gabrielle has very good athletic ability. Without her, we’d definitely be a weaker team.”

Hardenbrook, who is sharing time at the point guard spot with freshman Kylie Tareski, knows the Cardinals’ success has come down to more than just hard work on the court.

“Not only do we work on situations at the end of practice, we just have faith in each other,” said Hardenbrook. “We all truly feel everyone has something to offer. I think it’s awesome. I’d much rather have it this way. There isn’t one person who sticks out. We all know it and truly believe it. If something bad happens, we don’t hang our heads, we just know we’re better than that. We just encourage each other and root each other on.”

McNeill personifies the sacrifice made on the team, moving from the post to the shooting guard role last season.

“She’s worked really hard on her shot,” said Von Lehe. “She’s a smart player on the court. She’s got a vision. She wants to get us to Tacoma and wants to be a part of that. That’s her drive. She has aspirations of playing at a four-year school and not just any four-year school, but she wants to play at a big four-year school.”

The Cardinals enter district play as an underdog to GNL rivals Pullman and West Valley, but if there is strength in numbers, Medical Lake is ready for the challenge.

“We just have to keep working as a team,” said Daily. “We have to work hard. Our practices have been really good lately. We just need to keep that up.”

“Hopefully these kids will be peaking at the right time,” said Von Lehe. “We are not there yet. We have to play with more intensity and we have to play smarter. We are not there yet. We as a coaching staff have to get these kids to play smarter and play with intensity every single minute of the game. We’re getting there. We just have to put it all together and we will.”