Bench steps up to help Cardinals' sweep

With one of their leading scorers spending a lot of time on the bench battling an injury, the Medical Lake boy's basketball team needed the bench to step up last week.

It did and the Cardinals came through in their Northeast A League games with a pair of victories and thus remained in the hunt for not only a high seed in the playoffs, but even an outside shot at the regular season title.

The Cardinals used a big fourth quarter and had four players in double figures in defeating Deer Park 56-38 Jan. 26. Then last Friday Medical Lake had three more players hit for big numbers in a 68-53 victory over Colville that concluded a two-game home stand.

Medical Lake (8-3 NEA, 12-5 overall) has had to deal with senior Jaelon Stith's undisclosed ailment and got 14 points from another senior, Cole Soliday versus Deer Park (3-8, 4-13) and then 18 more from him against Colville (3-8, 4-11).

Against Deer Park the Cardinals had two definitive quarters where they put distance between themselves and the Stags, outscoring the visitors 14-8 in the second to lead 24-18 at the half. Their 16-8 edge in the final period sealed it.

In addition to Soliday's contribution the Cardinals got 12 points from Cory Wagner, 11 from Cooper James and 10 from Stith in limited time. "This week was dedicated more to our bench to get them some opportunities to play, get them some quality minutes," head coach Arnold Brown said.

"Our defense was kind of the turning point in the second quarter," Brown said. "We had some steals, some turnovers and fast breaks."

Medical Lake raced to a big 17-7 lead Friday against Colville and never looked back. Along with the18-point effort from Soliday, the senior also delivered 14 rebounds versus Colville for a double-double.

Brown said Soliday's rebounding ability, despite not possessing a lot of height or weight, "Is (because he is) just good at anticipating."

Wagner added 13, plus eight assists. The Cardinals also had Dontae Brown deliver a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"I was just glad we were able to come out a little better," Brown said. "January is always a rough month with 11 games so there was a little fatigue."

Also notable was the play of recent JV team grad Xavier Butler who pitched in with eight points, six of those from long-distance, and both buzzer-beaters as the first half and third quarters ended.

"Xavier did real well coming off the bench," Brown said. "He's kind of our shooter, the only way you can stop him is by taking him out."

With three games remaining the Cardinals are in the thick of the race for the top. They were on the road at Newport this past Tuesday, Feb. 2, and host Lakeside (9-2, 13-4) tonight (Feb. 4) on Senior Night at 7:30 p.m.

Medical Lake saddled league-leading Freeman (10-1, 14-3) with its only loss, but suffered a home defeat to Newport Jan. 8.

"Obviously they are both playoff-type games, because they are playoff-type teams," Brown said. "It's going to take a complete game."

Thursday's outing at home versus the Eagles is Senior Night, so there is a lot of emotion connected, Brown added.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.