When healthy and firing on all cylinders, the Everett Seagull twins Alana and Mae Washington can be all sorts of double trouble for opposing teams; on Saturday, the Meadowdale Mavericks found out just how true that can be.

Alana and Mae combined for 53 points to lead the Seagulls to a 65-55 upset of the Mavericks in a District 1 3A girls basketball tournament winner-to-state loser-out game at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.

With the defeat, Meadowdale’s hopes of a return trip to the 3A state tournament were dashed and their 2023-2024 season came to a sorrowful end.

The Meadowdale-Everett matchup saw the Washington twins playing in high form as the two scored all but 12 of the Seagulls’ points in the contest.

Mavericks coach Kevin Thompson conceded that Alana and Mae ended up being too much for his squad to handle.

“They’re great,” Thompson. “They drive to the bucket, they get up little floater shots, they can hit the long three. So you just have to play complete defense; you can’t play one portion of it.”

Alana Washington scored 32 points in the game while Mae added 21 points for the Seagulls, the No. 5 seed in the tournament.

While the Washington twins were having little difficulty accumulating points for Everett, the Mavericks struggled with their shooting. The 55 points scored by Meadowdale was 20 points below their regular season average of 75.4 points per game.

Thompson said he was perplexed as to why his team found it so tough to find their shooting rhythm in the game, but suspected the Everett defensive effort had something to do with it.

“I have no idea why (our) shots weren’t falling,” Thompson said. “But Everett plays a great 1-3-1 (zone defense) and can put good pressure on. And they’re really long so you don’t throw normal passes in that. And you’ve got to be used to it and be ready to shoot as soon as you catch, or drive.”

The Mavericks made just nine of 35 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc, two of which came in the final 1:03 when the outcome was all but decided.

Meadowdale did show some life midway in the third quarter when Gia Powell, Kaiya Dotter, Payton Fleishman and Lexi Zardis each sank 3-pointers and the Mavericks grabbed a thin 35-34 lead.

But a subsequent 10-3 Everett run stopped the Mavericks’ momentum and gave the Seagulls a lead they would never relinquish.

Meadowdale, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, was led in points by the 17 of Audrey Lucas. Powell, in her final game as a Maverick, scored 13 points while Dotter added 11 points in the defeat.

While there were plenty of tears shed in the final Meadowdale locker room huddle, Thompson insisted that the loss shouldn’t define the Mavericks.

“What a great season it was,” Thompson said. “I mean, there’s nothing to hang our heads about. I would say 19-5 and finishing second in the (Wesco) conference isn’t bad.”

To view the entire District 1 Girls Basketball Tournament bracket, visit www.wpanetwork.com/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php?act=view&tournament_id=4235.

— By Doug Petrowski

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Everett 65, Meadowadale 55

Everett 17 14 16 18 – 65
Meadowdale 11 11 21 12 – 55

Meadowdale individual scoring: Audrey Lucas 17, Gia Powell 13, Kaiya Dotter 11, Lexi Zardis 6, Payton Fleishman 5, Kylie Richards 3, Mia Brockmeyer, Lisa Sonko, Kaya Powell

Everett individual scoring: Alana Washington 32, Mae Washington 21, Tatum Smith 7, Emily Barton 5, Lanie Thompson, Akilah Shaw, Haylie Oyler, Bella Nguon

Records: Meadowdale 19-5 overall; Everett 16-8 overall

Meadowdale next game: 2023-2024 season completed.