Prep girls basketball: District playoff loss to Seagulls ends Mavs’ season

Going into Saturday’s District 1 3A Girls Basketball Tournament 3rd place/elimination game, Coach Arie Mahler felt good about his Meadowdale Lady Mavericks taking on the Everett Lady Seagulls.

“They’ve been on a roll for the last month and we had a great three days of practice,” Mahler said of his squad.

But the positive lead-in to Saturday’s contest didn’t carry over into the game as the District tournament No. 8-seed Mavericks were steamrolled by the Seagulls 51-31.

“It was a rough game tonight,” Mahler admitted. “We didn’t play like I know we’re capable of, but that happens.”

Everett, the tourney’s no. 4 seed, scored the first seven points of the game, led 15-4 after the first quarter and never looked back to earn the victory. The win gives the Seagulls a share of third place in the District tourney and a chance to play in the regional round of the WIAA State 3A Girls Basketball Tournament that begins next week.

The Seagulls have now won 10 of their last 12 contests.

With the defeat, Meadowdale saw its 2021-2022 season come to an end with an 11-10 overall record.

The Mavs struggled on the offensive end Saturday; the 31 points scored by Meadowdale was their lowest output for a game this season. The team made only eights shots from the field — just two in the first half, a three-pointer by Jordan Leith early in the first quarter and another three by Gia Powell late in the half.

Powell led the Mavs in scoring with 13 points; Leith added nine points, while Jenaly Gabriel contributed five points.

Everett’s Mae Washington led all scorers in the game with 19 points; her sister Alaya tallied 13 points as the Washington duo together outscored the entire Meadowdale roster.

While disappointed with the loss, Mahler did praise his team after the contest for the determination they showed late this season. As part of his daily commute, Mahler drives past Everett Community College — site of the District 1 tournament’s final slate of games — each day; he shared that at midseason he thought to himself that playing a District tourney game at the site was likely out of reach for his squad.

“But because of the work and the effort that they put in the last month, that’s why they’re here,” Mahler stated.

Saturday’s game was the last for four seniors on the Meadowdale roster: Gabriel, Sonya Amy, McKenna Kuecker and Brezan’e Sanchez Nobles. After congratulating the four on their prep careers, Mahler turned his attention to the rest of the squad.

“We return everybody (else) pretty much intact,” Mahler noted. “I think next year this team will definitely be a team to reckon with in Wesco.”

Mahler also hopes the underclassmen on the squad remember the tough loss that ended the Mavs’ season this year.

“It can be a driving force throughout the offseason into the next year to work hard and work on the things that we know that we need to do better and work on the mental side too,” Mahler concluded.

To view the entire District 1 3A Girls Basketball Tournament bracket, click www.wescoathletics.com/m2/tourn.php?act=vt&tid=3484.

Prep Girls Basketball: Meadowdale vs. Everett, Feb. 19 (District 1 3A Girls Basketball Tournament 3rd place/elimination game)

Meadowdale 4 8th 6 13 — 31

Everett 15 12 9 15 — 51

Meadowdale individual scoring: Gia Powell 13, Jordan Leith 9, Jenaly Gabriel 5, McKenna Kuecker 2, Ava Powell 1, Kaiya Powell 1, Samantha Medina, Audrey Lucas, Sonja Amy, Brezan’e Sanchez Nobles

Everett individual scoring: Mae Washington 19, Alaya Washington 13, Lanie-Linda Thompson 6, Ella Sylvester 4, Emma Larson 4, Mylie Wugumpeg 2, Andrea Parrish 2, Caroline Jameson 1, Lillian Thompson

records:Meadowdale 11-10 jumpsuit; Everett 12-7 overall

Meadowdale next game: 2021-2022 season completed

— By Doug Petrovsky