Prep boys basketball: Mavs fall to Lions in non-league game

Scheduled for three games in four days, with no practice in that span, the Meadowdale boys basketball dropped the first of those games to Arlington Friday night for their first Wesco League loss. Less than 24 hours later, the Mavericks stepped onto the court at the Stable looking to get back on track against Lakeside of the Metro league. Unfortunately for the Mavs, they fell to the visiting Lions, 60-45 at Meadowdale High School.

From the beginning tip, the Mavs were met with the Lions’ intense and very physical defense. There was pressure on the ball and on players away from the ball, which forced Meadowdale into turning the ball over several times. That led to an 18-11 Lions lead after one quarter of play.

The Mavericks took care of the ball and played better in the second quarter, outscoring the Lions 14-8, to go into halftime trailing Lakeside by just one point, 25-26.

Any momentum that Meadowdale had built vanished quickly in the third quarter.

The Lions turned up the defensive pressure, stifling the Mavs’ offense and their ability to consistently maintain possession of the ball.

Turnovers and poor shooting hampered the scoring efforts of Meadowdale’s offense. Until Dan Barhoum stepped in front of a Lions pass at the top of the key and took it the length of the court for the basket, the Mavs had gone scoreless for the first four minutes of the quarter, and end it with more turnovers than points.

Meanwhile, Lakeside had scored 17 points to take a 43-31 lead going into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, a combination of missed free throws and continued issues executing their offense, kept the Mavs from gaining any ground, and the Lions ended up with the 60-45 victory.

“Turnovers were the big one,” said Meadowdale head coach Roger O’Neill. “Lakeside’s a strong, physical team. They had some guys that were able to really put some pressure on us, on and off the ball, quite frankly. O’Neill pointed to the third quarter as “the glaring one. More turnovers than shot attempts, which is obviously not a good recipe for success. It’s disappointing.”

Meadowdale will look to get back on track during two more non-league games next week — versus Kingston on Monday and Wesco 4A’s Cascade on Wednesday.

“We have great character kids on our team,” O’Neill said. “Nobody’s pointing fingers or anything. They are committed to getting better.”

Prep Boys Basketball:  Lakeside at Meadowdale, December 16

Lakeside            18    08     17    17 —60

Meadowdale       11    14     06    14 —45

Lakeside scoring: William Barton 15, Omahre Gratton 9, Will Johnson 9, Robert Breyer 8, AJ Allen 7, Alec Malcolm 5, Jared Feikes 3, Thomas Belanger 2, Luke Belcher 2, Will Dickinson 0

Meadowdale scoring: Mason Harvey 11, Daniel Barhoum 11, Justin Chambers 9, Will Schafer 4, Nick Buckley 2, Colton Walsh 2, Drew Harvey 2, Will McKinley 2, Haben Tekle 1, Okeoma Okoro 1

Records: Lakeside 1-3 in Metro League, 3-3 overall; Meadowdale  1-1 in 3A Wesco League, 2-4 overall

Meadowdale’s next game: versus Kingston – Monday, Dec. 18, 7:00 p.m. at Kingston High School

— Story and photos by Scott Williams

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