Mountainside tipped off against the Black Tornados of North Medford last Friday. The win elevated the chances of getting some home court advantage through the first two rounds. Then finally making a push towards winning it all.

The Mavs showed out at as senior Cameron Brink who led the game in scoring and rebounds with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Halle Hageman, and sophomore Lindsey Wilson were also key catalysts for the Win. Brink was dominant as she always is, with superb playmaking from the high and low post. This led to some three-pointers by Hageman and open layups for her other teammates.

The Mavericks played a full-court press, which proved fruitful. They did get beat a few times, however. “When we’re pressing we have to make sure that we’re not letting anyone behind us because any Metro League team will kill us on that,” Wilson said.

They do have a lot of bright spots, Hageman is a good point guard, she knows the offense and has a good natural feel for the game, along with fellow sophomore Wilson. The two should be pillars of the Mountainside program for years to come.

But the now is the most important thing. The Mavs don’t have a solid ball-handler coming off the bench when Hageman and Brink aren’t on the court. On Friday, sophomore Carly Stone was the main ball-handler when Hageman and Brink were out. She did a great job leading the second unit, getting points, and locking up on defense.

With the preseason out of the way, they need to get into a place where they can make a serious push for home-court advantage for the playoffs by working on three-point shooting. Teams such as Jesuit, Southridge and the powerhouse that is Beaverton this year will be good tests for Mountainside. There is very little doubt the Mavs will make the playoffs, it is simply a matter of how far can they go.

Kyle Pinnell of Southridge High School contributed to the making of this article