MEDICAL LAKE – Freshmen Gabe Smith and Hudson Gilbert scored 53 points between them to lead the Cardinals' boys basketball team to a 75-59 win over Davenport, Thursday, Jan. 9. Gilbert had the hot hand early in the game for the Cardinals. He hit three 3-point shots in the game's opening minutes to spearhead a scoring run that saw Medical Lake jump to a 16-2 lead. Davenport's Caige Colbert found his rhythm and within minutes scored 10 points to prevent an early blowout. At the end of the quarter, the Cardinals led 24-15.
In the second quarter, Smith and Gilbert took over the game. Smith was too much for the Gorillas to handle inside the paint. He scored 12 points in the quarter to give him 18 for the half. Gilbert ended the half with16 points, nearly all from outside.
Colbert continued to shine for the Gorillas. He accounted for 15 of his team's 29 first half points. At the half, Medical Lake led 43-29.
In the second half Davenport held its own, nearly matching the Cardinals point-for-point. Colbert scored 10 points and Bennett Wagner and Tommy Furman scored nine and seven points, respectively, but the Gorillas couldn't narrow the scoring gap. They trailed 61-46 after three quarters and eventually lost the game 75-59.
Smith ended the game with 30 points. Gilbert scored 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had two steals. Lebo Holloway scored six points, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals. Austin Michaud hit two 3-pointers to give him six points. Grant Moffatt scored five points, Jonathon Lundberg scored three and Owen Moffatt scored two.
Colbert scored 25 points for Davenport. He also had six rebounds and a blocked shot. Wagner had 14 points. Tommy Furman scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Titus Lathrop scored five points and Jacob Furman and Mac Larmer scored three and two points, respectively. McGuire Knopp rounded out the scoring with one free throw.
"Our team is playing really good right now," Smith said. "We worked hard in practice yesterday to get ready for this game. I really like this team because we work hard and never give up. Our weakness is that sometimes we take breaks, and we can't be doing that."
Medical Lake head coach Brett Ward was impressed with how his team started the game.
"Our shot making in the first quarter was incredible. To come out the way we did, hitting threes and dunking is as good of a start that you can have. Two freshmen combing for 53 points is pretty special. They played awesome. We also had great energy on defense."
Ward was impressed by Colbert's play.
"Number 22 for them is a great player. He's really good and kept them in it for a really long time, but we didn't let them get all the way back in it. He's too good of a player to hold down forever, but we weathered the storm and pushed. This was one of our best games of the year."
"This was a game of highs and lows," Davenport head coach Matt Henry said. "We would make some plays and then not execute for a while. Getting down early in games has been a staple of ours and we're trying to figure out how to come out more focused. We need to turn that corner pretty quick."
Henry praised Colbert for his performance.
"Caige is a rock. He works his tail off. He always has to guard their best guy and I'm really proud of him. We've got other guys that play hard around him, we just need to make better decisions. Medical Lake is a good team. They've got several guys who can stroke it, but we have to do a better job getting our hands up and sticking to our principles."
With the win, Medical Lake improved to 9-3. Davenport dropped to 5-7 and 4-2 in the NE2B league.
Davenport played Newport Jan. 14 and will take on Northwest Christian at home Friday, Jan. 17. The Cardinals' next home game is against Riverside, Tuesday, Jan. 28.
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