The Meadowdale Mavericks have been stampeding through Wesco League play this season, winning 10 of 11 league matchups and averaging 80 points per game in those conference games.

But the Mavs’ charge was halted on Thursday as one of their key ponies was laid up and unavailable to join the rush.

As starting junior Samantha Medina sat on the bench in street clothes, her Maverick teammates were tamed by the visiting Snohomish Panthers 57-53 in a matchup of league elites at Meadowdale High School.

Medina, who suffered an injury to her right hand in a game on Jan. 26, could only watch as the Mavericks succumbed to the bigger Panthers lineup.

After the loss, Meadowdale Coach Kevin Thompson noted how Medina’s absence was a big factor in the loss.

“It (was) huge,” Thompson said. “Her energy’s something else. She’s 6-foot-1, she bounces all over the court, she rebounds tough and she can hit shots. So yeah, that’s a big deal, especially when (Snohomish) has three posts.”

One of Snohomish’s post players, junior Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles, scored 18 points — all from inside the paint — in the victory. But it was the Panthers’ Sienna Capelli who led all scorers in the game with 20 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter and six in the final 1:36 to seal the win.

It’s usually Meadowdale that overwhelms their opponent on the scoreboard early and often, but in Thursday’s contest it was the Panthers (10-2 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 12-5 overall) that jumped out to a 17-3 lead after the first five minutes.

The Mavericks were able to fight back, though, grabbing their first lead at 29-28 in the final minute of the first half and holding a 42-40 lead after three quarters. But it was an advantage the Mavs couldn’t hold on to as they were outscored 17-11 in the fourth quarter.

Senior Gia Powell led Meadowdale with 16 points despite shooting just 1-for-11 from 3-point range. Audrey Lucas scored 12 points, Kaiya Dotter added 11 points and freshman Lexi Zardis came off the bench to score 11 points for the Mavericks.

Meadowdale (10-2 in 2A/3A Wesco League play, 17-3 overall) has one game remaining in the regular season, a road contest at Cedarcrest on Friday, Feb. 2, before beginning the District 1 3A tournament next week as a top-three seeded team.

While there’s little time to acclimate to possibly playing the postseason without Medina (the junior has left open the possibility of returning to the lineup sometime over the next few weeks), Powell said the team will have to move forward and prepare for whatever lies ahead, including a possible rematch with the Panthers.

“We have some kinks to work out on defense; our rotation’s a little off,” Powell said. “But I think overall we’re going to learn from this and we’ll see them in districts.”

Thompson summed up what the focus would be for the Mavericks over the final stretch of the season.

“We want to go back to Tacoma (site of the final games of the state tournament) so we’ve got to finish our business in conference and go do what we can do in districts,” he said.

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Snohomish 57, Meadowdale 53

Snohomish 24 7 9 17 – 57
Meadowdale 12 17 13 11 – 53

Meadowdale scoring: Gia Powell 16, Audrey Lucas 12, Kaiya Dotter 11, Lexi Zardis 11, Payton Fleishman 3, Mia Brockmeyer, Lisa Sonko, Kylie Richards

Snohomish scoring: Sienna Capelli 20, Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles 18, Catherine Greene 6, Lizzie Allyn 4, Kendall Hammer 3, Addyson Gallatin 3, Baella Stich 2, Cora Larson

Records: Meadowdale 10-2 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 17-3 overall; Snohomish 10-2 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 13-5 overall

Meadowdale next game: versus Cedarcrest; Friday, Feb. 2; 7:15 p.m. at Cedarcrest High School in Duvall

— By Doug Petrowski