Cardinal girls keep things perfect

Medical Lake's girls basketball team has found yet another weapon in what is turning out to be an impressive arsenal.

Sophomore Lexie Redell led all scorers with 22 points in the Cardinals 65-33 pounding of Chewelah in a Northeast A League game Dec. 12 and then put up another 16 last Friday in a 77-20 dismantling of Deer Park.

The results leave Medical Lake undefeated, 3-0 in the NEA and 6-0 overall heading into the Christmas break. A nonleague meeting with Kellogg on Dec. 13 was cancelled due to a scheduling snafu with hope that it might still be played.

"Lexie is starting to shoot much better," head coach Kyle Lundberg wrote in an email. "She has been working really hard to get into better shape and get her shot down."

As usual, however, Redell had plenty of help, with Jayda Noble pitching in 12, Makayla Geiger adding 11 as the other Cardinals in double figures against the Cougars.

Of larger note were defensive efforts in both contests, and that is pleasing to Lundberg. But there's still work to do, he said.

"I was very pleased on the defensive effort against Chewelah (0-3, 1-3) and Deer Park (1-2, 3-3)," Lundberg said. "However, we still have many things to work on to continue to get better; we don't want to be just a good team we want to be a great team."

Medical Lake held the visitors to single-digit scoring over the last three quarters.

The "D" was even better on the road Friday where Medical Lake raced to a 27-3 first-quarter lead and held a 51-15 advantage at halftime, sparked by a portion of the 28 steals the Cards collected.

But the offense was also pretty darned good. "Deer Park was our best shooting game thus far," Lundberg said as the team shot 57 percent, adding 25 assists. Geiger led the Cardinals with 19 points while Noble added 17 against the Stags.

One of the focuses recently has been finishing, Lundberg explained. "Previously we have missed several layups in other games," Lundberg said of a problem that he did not have to address this particular night.

With a 15-day break from games before Medical Lake plays Jan. 2 at Newport, Lundberg is looking for his team to get some rest and for the roster to expand before the hectic pace of play returns.

"We have been playing seven varsity girls in the last five games," Lundberg said. "We will be excited to get Jessie (Lohman) and Ellie (Acord) back after the break."

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