The Medomak Valley and Lake Region girls’ basketball teams went into the locker rooms at halftime Saturday mired in a shooting slump as confounding as either has faced this season.
The deep freeze continued into the second half for Lake Region. Medomak Valley, however, thawed out just enough.
Kytana Williamson scored 16 points, Maya Cannon grabbed 24 rebounds, and fourth-seeded Medomak Valley earned a 41-31 victory over No. 5 Lake Region in a Class B South quarterfinal at the Portland Expo.
“We talked at halftime. I said ‘The first one to 45 (points) was going to win this thing, 40 or 45,'” said Medomak Coach Ryan McNelly. “We just designed some things and talked about what to exploit a little bit. … We had a lot of hustle plays that gave us second opportunities. I think that helped quite a bit.”
Medomak Valley moves on to play No. 1 seed Oceanside, the defending state champion, in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Offense completely disappeared in the second quarter for the Panthers (13-6) and Lakers (13-6), who went into the break tied at 15. Lake Region scored one second-quarter point on 0-for-7 shooting from the field and a 1-for-10 performance from the free-throw line, while Medomak went 1 for 13 from the floor and 4 for 10 on free-throw attempts.
The Panthers quickly found a rhythm in the third, however, hitting three of their first four shots. Audrey Jackson (eight points) made a jumper, Williamson drove for a basket and Jackson hit a 3, giving Medomak a 22-19 lead. Williamson added six more points as the Panthers finished the quarter with a 33-23 advantage.
“I think our defensive intensity kind of helped bring us more energy,” said Williamson, a sophomore. “We knew they were going to come out hard, so we needed to come out harder with more intensity, really work hard and get the ball in the net.”
Lake Region narrowed the deficit to 35-31 on a Margo Tremblay basket with 3:40 to go, but got no closer. The Lakers finished 12 of 40 (30 percent) from the floor and 4 for 22 from the free-throw line.
“We shot the ball poorly, we ran our offense poorly, and we missed our foul shots. So it’s a trifecta. I wouldn’t have expected that from this group, but sometimes it happens,” said Lakers Coach Doug Banks, whose team got 10 points from Bella Smith and eight from Melissa Mayo.
“It’s just a tough day.”
Banks said nerves likely factored in for his team, which started three sophomores and a junior.
“They haven’t seen this type of atmosphere,” he said. “I’m sure I could have made better adjustments. The girls played hard. I just wish the ball would have fallen for them.”
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