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Even though the Meadowdale Mavericks earned a berth into the WIAA 3A Girls State Basketball Tournament by going 2-2 in the District 1 3A tourney earlier this month, something felt wrong. The Mavs weren’t stampeding their way to high-scoring victories in District play, as was seen at times during the regular season.
Well, perhaps the lightning-charged version of the Mavericks is back. On Tuesday, the Mavs sank 11 shots from beyond the 3-point arc and racked up their second-highest point total this year in a 81-72 win over the River Ridge Hawks in a 3A state tourney opening-round loser-out contest at Edmonds-Woodway High School.
With the victory, the 15th-seeded Mavs will move into the second round of the state tournament and will next face No. 10 seed Enumclaw on Saturday in another tourney loser-out game.
After a slow start Tuesday, Meadowdale found its shooting touch, erased an early deficit to the Hawks late in the second quarter and then held on to grab the win.
“I just thought we came out with a lot of energy; we were excited to play,” said Mavericks junior Lexi Zardis. “Everybody just did their job. It was really good. We were pushing the ball. We played really good as a team. It was really fun to see.”
Zardis sank a 3-pointer as time was expiring in the first half to cap off a game-changing 13-0 run by the Mavs, giving the team a 39-35 advantage at halftime. Meadowdale had been down 35-26 with 2:34 to go in the half before senior Mia Brockmeyer downed 3-pointers on consecutive Mavericks possessions, and added a free throw to cut the Hawks’ lead to 35-33.
Then with 30.6 seconds to go, Lisa Sonko stole the ball and was fouled while scoring a driving layin, giving Meadowdale its first lead of the game at 36-35. Zardis’ buzzer-beater sent the Mavs to the halftime locker room with the four-point advantage, a lead they would not surrender in the second half.
The late second-quarter run by the Mavericks counterbalanced their slow start when they missed seven of their first nine shots and committed numerous turnovers. Meadowdale Coach Benson Sims credited the “scrappy” defensive play of the Hawks as the factor in his team’s sluggish start.
“They stayed to their DNA and gave us some trouble in the first quarter, as we all thought they would,” Sims said. “We did tighten it up and get things together.”
After falling behind 11-4 in the first 3:14 of the contest, the Mavericks outscored the Hawks 35-24 for the remainder of the first half, fueled in part by three 3-pointers by Brockmeyer, three by Zardis and one by junior Kaya Powell.
Benson liked seeing the accuracy of his outside shooters, something that had been missing during the District tournament. “I’d like to think that that second half in the last game (a 62-39 win over Shorecrest on Feb. 21) kind of sparked something,” Benson said. “When it’s going, it’s going; it’s good.”
It was the execution of the team offense that especially pleased Zardis on Tuesday. “Everybody touched the ball every possession; it was good,” she said. “We’ve been practicing for it too, so it’s exciting to see it all come together.”
“I think it was a full effort across the board,” Sims added. “The togetherness theme — the team has really bought into that.”
River Ridge, 15-10 overall and the No. 18 seed in the 3A State tournament, kept close to the Mavericks throughout the second half on Tuesday. But the Mavs secured the victory with a sharp eye at the foul line, converting 18 of 22 (81.8%) free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter.
Brockmeyer led the Mavericks in scoring with 32 points, downing five 3-pointers and sinking nine of 10 free-throw attempts in the game. Zardis scored 14 points while Powell added 11 points in the win.
River Ridge senior Brandi Stanford, an All-League first team honoree in the Puget Sound League Nisqually Division this season, led all scorers in the game with 35 points. Freshman sharpshooter Paige Arko tallied 12 points for the Hawks, all on 3-pointers.
Meadowdale (15-10 overall) had just one victory (1-7 overall) in its last four state tournament appearances before Tuesday’s win. Last year the team went 0-2 at State, losing to two eventual trophy winners (the 3A state champion Central Valley and fourth-place finisher Bellevue). Tuesday’s victory over River Ridge gives the team some much-needed momentum ahead of a Round 2 tournament game that puts them one step closer to achieving a team goal set prior to the start of the season.
“It’s really exciting; it’s just one more game until we actually get to the Tacoma Dome,” Zardis said. “So it’s super exciting. I think we just have to come out how we did today and I think we’ll be fine.”
The Mavs take on the Enumclaw Hornets at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at Auburn HIgh School. The winner will play in the Tacoma Dome Wednesday, March 4, with hopes of sticking around for more competition as the week progresses. The loser of Saturday’s game will see their 2025-26 season come to an end.
Prep Girls Basketball: River Ridge vs. Meadowdale, Feb. 24; (WIAA 3A Girls State Basketball Tournament opening round loser-out game)
River Ridge 22 13 15 22 – 72
Meadowdale 18 21 18 24 – 81
Meadowdale individual scoring: Mia Brockmeyer 32, Lexi Zardis 14, Kaya Powell 11, Hannah Kenney 9, Lisa Sonko 9, Kylie Richards 4, Quinn Gannon 2
River Ridge individual scoring: Brandi Stanford 35, Paige Arko 12, Keke Bol 8, Mya Armstrong 6, Syllestine Olney 5, Jayla Cavalier 4, Tianna Jordan-Moody 2, Kailana Paresa, Sa’riyah Nance
Records: Meadowdale 9-3 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 15-10 overall; River Ridge 12-4 in Puget Sound League Nisqually Conference, 15-10 overall
Meadowdale next game: versus Enumclaw; Saturday, Feb. 28; 2 p.m. at Auburn High School (WIAA 3A Girls State Basketball Tournament Round 2 loser-out game)
River Ridge next game: 2025-26 season completed
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