MEDICAL LAKE — The Cardinal boys let Deer Park take an early lead that they were never able to catch in a disappointing 52-39 loss on Friday at home.
“A very tough team,” head coach Jordan Starr said as stunned fans began exiting the gymnasium. “But we knew going in it was going to be tough.”
The Stags played a fast, aggressive game throughout, while putting up a strong defense in front of their basket, holding the Cardinals to a single Jordan Petersen free throw at the 3-minute-20 second mark in the first quarter, and only three points to Deer Park’s 16, helped along by some sloppy Cardinal shooting that found the basket only three times in the first quarter.
The second was better, with Medical Lake scoring three more than Deer Park, but still not enough to gain an edge with the Cardinals going into the half as six-point underdogs.
The second half was much like the first, with a recharged Stag offense nailing 12 points to the Cardinals eight in the second for a 38-24 Deer Park lead at the beginning of the fourth for an evenly matched game that didn’t diminish the Stag’s lead as they answered the Cardinals point-for-point up to the final buzzer and the first Cardinal loss in five games.
Ashton Hamilton-Becker lead scoring with 12, followed by Nick Mason with eight and Jordan Petersen with seven.
Medical Lake dropped to a 7-2 Northeast A League-leading record and 14-3 overall, and with both Deer Park and Freeman nipping at their heels, both with 7-3, 13-5 overall records, the league title is up for grabs.
The loss saw the Cardinals fall two places to sixth in the WIAA RPI state 1A rankings.
As of press time the Cardinals were scheduled to host No. 4 Newport (6-4, 12-6) on Tuesday, Feb. 4, then travel to face Freeman tonight and Deer Park one more time on Friday night. Both games are a 7:15 p.m. tip-off.
Lee Hughes can be reached at lee@cheneyfreepress.com.
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