ML boys a perfect 6-0 at break

The Medical Lake boys' basketball team will take an early Christmas present with them into the holiday break.

They have a perfect 3-0 record in the Northeast A League and are 6-0 overall following wins Dec. 13 at Chewelah, 53-41, and 69-55 at home against Deer Park, Dec. 16.

Behind the double-figure scoring of Nizhole (pronounced Niz-ol) Sherman, who pumped in 19 points, along with a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double from Joey Jasmer, and 12 points from Trenten Garza, the Cardinals raced to a 28-12 halftime lead at Chewelah.

They withstood a brief threat from the Cougars (0-3 NEA, 3-3 overall), but put the game on ice with a 16-6 fourth quarter edge.

"We started off like we usually do, we got a real good run on them," Medical Lake head coach Noel Hachtel said. "Our starting point guard (Drew Hostetter) didn't get to make the game so we had to move some players around and brought some players up."

That, Hachtel said, allowed Chewelah to cut the lead down to 34-28 at the end of the third quarter. "They went on a 16-4 run and I didn't feel like we needed to call a timeout to stop it," he said. But he described it as a "slow run," and was not concerned. "Usually you can sense when a run is happening and I did not sense that."

The Cardinals got it figured out and scored a game-high 17 points over the final eight minutes. "We wanted to have them figure it out before it got out of control, and they did," Hachtel said.

"With Nizhole, it almost seems effortless sometimes," Hachtel said. Sherman added another 20, Friday versus Deer Park. "And he didn't play the whole game," Hachtel added.

Deer Park (1-2, 2-4) presented some additional challenges.

"They watched their film and had an answer for our press," Hachtel said. "We didn't figure them out until about two minutes into the third quarter."

Once they found the key, it unlocked the ability for Medical Lake to pull away from a 35-31 halftime lead for a 14-point win.

Jasmer's run of four double doubles in five games came to an end versus the Stags as he found himself in foul trouble with four in the first quarter. "That hurt," Hachtel said.

Forced to "go small" versus Deer Park without Jasmer's 6-foot, 6-inch height, Medical Lake found themselves in a rebounding battle against the Stags' athleticism, Hachtel said.

Xavier Butler tossed in 18 points, most from long-range. "He was phenomenal and I think he played three quarters," Hachtel said. "With Xavier, we defined a role for him early on," Hachtel explained. Butler's starting to accept those roles and is getting more wide-open shots.

Hachtel said some of the hidden numbers out of the Deer Park game of which he was impressed were the 16 assists his guys had, and going a true 50 percent - 9 for 18 - from the 3-point line.

Those 3-point numbers could have been even better, he said, because a couple of shots were not well set up and rushed. "I think that was the stat that got us through Deer Park," Hachtel said.

Medical Lake takes some time off during the Christmas break with no league games until Jan. 3. But they do participate in the West Valley tournament, meeting Sandpoint, Idaho Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 9 a.m. and 2B St. George's, Thursday, Dec. 29 at 8 p.m.

This holiday will be special for Hachtel he said, noting his wife, Annie, also active duty in the U.S. Air Force, is home this year. "It will be the first one in a while," where the family is all under one roof this time of year.

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