Mead and Mt. Spokane Draws Best Crowd of the Year So Far

The energy is the gym was real. From start to finish, the gym was buzzing and both student sections were completely filled with the upper bowl in the gym mostly filled as well. When Mead and Mt. Spokane play, it seems like all of North Spokane comes out and it makes for one of the most exciting atmospheres you will find in Washington. Mt. Spokane's student section roared "I believe that we will win!" in the final moments as the Wildcats pulled out the victory 46-31 to improve to 3-1 on the season. <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt"><em>Takeaways</em> and <em>Questions</em> to be answered:</span></strong> <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Mead Impressed in the first quarter:</strong></span> I really liked the way Mead came out early on. They were in attack mode and really got to the paint play after play. They did not convert on all of those plays, but they were able to attack off the bounce and attack poor closeouts on Mt. Spokane's end. 2022 5'7 G <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/olivia-moore-2/">Olivia Moore</a></strong> got into the paint and got off a couple of really nice floaters. 2020 5'8 PG <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/joelnell-momberg/">Joelnell Momberg</a> </strong>also got into the paint at times early on, despite some tough defense from Mt. Spokane's best defender. This attacking mentality is what they will need to have from start to finish in order to be successful. <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Mt. Spokane's defense locked in and Mead went cold in the second quarter:</strong></span> It was a total team effort as Mt. Spokane locked in defensively in the second quarter. This year's group has more speed and athleticism from a year ago and we started to get a glimpse of that in this game. State MVP volleyball player <strong>Tia</strong> <strong>Allen</strong> can automatically come into the game and help out on defense and the boards at 5'11. When her and 6'2 Seattle U volleyball signee <strong>Sophie Bertotti-Metoyer</strong> come into the game the level of athleticism, activity and rebounding goes up a notch. Mt. Spokane tightened up its closeouts and did a better job of keeping Mead's guards out of the paint and from there, Mead struggled to get anything going on offense, scoring just two points in the second quarter. <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/jayda-noble/">Jayda Noble</a>'s improved offensive mentality:</strong></span> The University of Washington signee sensed she had to pick up her scoring in this game in order for the Wildcats to pull away. She turned up her aggression more and more as the game went along and it was to the advantage of Mt. Spokane. In just about any game, she is the one player athletically and talent wise that no other team can really match up with. Everything starts with her and she owned up to that responsibility in this game, which was the ultimate difference maker offensively. When she got aggressive looking for her outside shot, it started to keep the defense honest and open up her driving lanes, which then opened up passing lanes. 2021 6'0 SF <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/jaimyn-sides/">Jaimyn Sides</a></strong> is one of the beneficiaries of Jayda's aggressiveness, because it opens up her three point shot, which she knocks down at a high rate. Jaimyn finished with 9 points on three 3-pointers. Jayda finished with a game high 17 points, while also grabbing 11 rebounds. Unsigned senior<strong> <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/emma-main/">Emma Main</a></strong> was the only other player in the game to reach double digits, finishing with 10. <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Will Mead Bounce Back?</strong></span> Mead (6-1) has little time to hang their head on the tough loss as they are in the thick of a tough GSL stretch. They have Central Valley (3-2) on Tuesday and play at University (2-2) on Thursday before heading into the break. Montana signee<strong> Joelnell Momberg</strong> finished with a team high 9 points as she drew the assignment of Mt. Spokane's best defender to try and shut her down. This will be a common game plan of the well coached teams. They will need more scoring production from 2022 5'10 SF <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/alicia-suggs/">Alicia Suggs</a></strong> who finished with 2 points in the game, but has the ability to be a game changer for the Panthers. 2022 5'8 PG <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/kyla-momberg/">Kyla Momberg</a></strong> will also need to produce quite a bit more scoring than the 2 points she had on Saturday. Both are fully capable and Mead will need those two talented sophomores to get it done in the coming games! <span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Is Mt. Spokane's identity going to be on the defensive end?</strong></span> As stated above, Mt. Spokane impressed defensively for three quarters of this game. They have length and athleticism at multiple positions. Obviously, they also have one of the state's best rebounders and defenders regardless of position in Jayda Noble. It is still early in the season, but defense may be this team's calling card. Mt. Spokane scored 78 and 64 points in blowout wins over Mead a year ago, compared to just 46 points that had to be grinded out this season. This year's group does not have the same level of scoring, but they have more potential defensively and time will tell if this will be their long-term identity.