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By Lee Hughes
Staff reporter 

Card girls take fifth place at state - 2019 sports top 10 year-in-review

2019 Top 10 – No. 4

 

Last updated 12/28/2019 at 8:28am

Jessica Lohman (left), Emma Maxwell (center) and Allison Duncan put the pressure on Freeman last season. The Card girls went on to earn fifth place at the state 1A championships last season.

MEDICAL LAKE - The Cardinal girls earned fifth place at the state playoff games at the Hardwood Classic at the Yakima SunDome for the second year in a row after going 2 for 2 in the state 1A championships.

The team started out with a decisive 49-36 victory over the No. 8 Kings Knights in a game that saw both teams exchange the lead several time in back-and-forth play. The Cardinals were led to the win by Jaycee Oliver before taking on the Meridian Trojans in a follow-up 41-33 win in quarter-final play led by Jessica Lohman and Lexie Redell to advance to the 1A semi-finals.

But Medical Lake, despite Lohman's 15 game points, weren't able to overcome the Lyndon Christian in a bitter 58-34 loss to the Lyncs for the second consecutive year.

"LC is a great defensive team and we knew we would have to shoot their lights out and hold them to a low shooting percentage," head coach Kyle Lundberg said.


But like a tsunami, Lyndon just kept on coming, outscoring Medical Lake in the second half alone 30-16.

The Card girls then advanced to a consolation bracket to play their early season nemesis: Cashmere.

The final game of the Card's season against the Cashmere Bulldogs was a near repeat of their Jan. 5 defeat in Cashmere early in the regular season during non-league play.

The Bulldogs dominated the hardwood, shooting well and making nearly 45 percent of their shots to Medical Lake's 1 in 4, while the Bulldog defense kept the Cards off the boards for most of the game and were a nightmare under the net both offensively and defensively.

The Cardinals would lose the game 55-33.

Redell led Medical Lake scoring, while the normally high-scoring NEA MVP Lohman was held to 2 points.


Lundberg had nothing but praise for his team, noting that the Cards had lost two first-team all-league players last year.

"This team wasn't picked to win our league," he said. "They not only did that, but also brought back that fifth-place trophy."

The Cardinal girls closed the season with a 21-9 overall record, including 5-3 in post-season play, landing a playoff slot for the third year in a row, and earning fifth overall in state 1A for the second consecutive season under Lundberg's leadership.

Lee Hughes can be reached at lee@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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