Medical Lake girls crush opponents

It was another good week for the Medical Lake girl’s basketball squad.

The Cards were riding a three-game winning streak — including a non-league, Spirit Game victory over the Cheney Blackhawks — when they came into the previous week’s Northeast A League play, winning at home against Lakeside, and on the road against Colville and Riverside in decisive victories.

Head coach Kyle Lundberg said the team has been playing very well, shooting 45 percent from the 3-point line in both Friday and Saturday’s games, “which enabled us to build pretty good size leads in each of those games,” he said.

Tuesday, Jan. 15, Lakeside

Where the Cards dominated in points scored from the field that allowed them to win a decisive 49-31 victory over the visiting Eagles, the one exception was in free throws. It was a case of face-saving grace for Lakeside that the Cards were only 4 for 11 from the free throw line on Tuesday, while at the same time the Eagles managed to net 8 of 14 of their own free throws.

Senior guard Jessica Lohman was the night’s top scorer with 13 points, including three field goals. Lexie Redell had eight points, including one 3-pointer, while Emily Munson nailed eight points from inside and outside the key.

Friday, Jan. 18 at Colville

Medical Lake brought their A-game north to Colville, and by the time the sweat had dried on the hardwood they had completely dominated the Indians in a 62-26 blowout.

The Cards outshot the Indians nearly 6-to-1 under the basket and almost 3-to-1 in 3-pointers.

Senior guard Jessica Lohman was again the team’s top scorer, dominating with four 3-pointers and going 2 for2 at the free throw line, raking in 16 points. Sophomore Emma Maxwell also had a good night with 14 points, 12 of them from outside for 14 points total, while Lexie Redell brought in nine points.

By the end of last week, the two victories extended the Card girls winning streak for the lead in the Northeast A league standing at 8-1, and 12-5 overall.

Saturday, Jan. 20 at Riverside

Not to be outdone by their blowout the night before, the Card girls came out against the Rams the next day and outdid themselves, beating up their opponents 74-28 in a one-sided road victory.

The Card girls came out shooting from the start against the Rams, running up a strong lead quickly, ending the first quarter with a comfortable 16-6 advantage.

They continued to be strong defensively in the second quarter, holding their opponent scoreless until near the end of the half. By the end of the quarter going into halftime they held a decisive 37-12 lead.

The Rams came back stronger in the third quarter, scoring a few baskets and playing a more competitive game. But it wasn’t enough to hold off the Cards, who, after an initial lethargic first few minutes, came back to score and bolster their defense for a 62-25 lead going into the fourth, where they dominated for the remainder of the game.

The Cards capitalized on 16 Ram fouls to their nine, shooting a collective 83.3 percent at the line.

Sophomore Ellie Acord led scoring with 16 points, including shooting 6 of 7 from the free throw line. Lexie Redell followed closely with 15 points, including making 100 percent of her free throws.

Lundberg was effusive about his team.

“Our defense was solid and we had an average of 14 steals in each game over the weekend,” he said. “We also moved the ball really well.”

Lundberg noted that Emily Munson had six assists each game.

“And more importantly (Munson) had zero turnovers in both games, Lundberg said of Munson’s play against both Colville and Riverside. “She had two great games running our offense and getting players involved.”

Lundberg felt the Card girls were “starting to peak at the right time.”

The Cards have three league games remaining, and they will continue to focus on one game at a time, Lundberg said, noting that they were, “looking forward to a rematch against Deer Park on Friday at Deer Park.”

The girl’s varsity game tip-off against the Stags begins at 5:30 p.m.

Lee Hughes can be reached at lee@cheneyfreepress.com