Momma Bears

Timp Sports Weekly

December 29, 2009

Publisher's Message

For this week's issue, we look at the Lehi Pioneer girls' thrilling home game against the Bear River Lady Bears, AKA the Momma Bears. The game was a classic case of a team coming back from a huge road loss to win a nail biter at home. Let's get to that story.

Dean Von Memmott

Publisher

deanmemmott@hotmail.com

Lehi Pioneer Girls' Hoop Team Redeems Self In Close Win Against Bear River Momma Bears

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

After experiencing a 30-point loss in a girls' basketball game at Judge Memorial a week before, questions abounded as to whether the Lehi Pioneers would be able to hop back to win a game at home before taking time off for the Holidays. Well, Lehi did prove it could do that when it posted a 39-36 at home over the Bear River Lady Bears, AKA the Momma Bears, Dec. 22.

Lehi Coach Troy Gifford said, "I was proud of my girls. I was down two starters in this game. Brooke Barnes and Jackie Cattoni were out for tonight's game. Brooke was hurt and Jackie was out of state for a family get-together back East. We changed our staring line-up. Gabby Grantham got into a good groove at point guard. Though she didn't hit in double-figures, she did a good job of showing leadership on the floor."

Even though the game opened with Momma Bear Kelli Smart getting the opening tipoff, Bear River lost the ball on a bad pass. Lehi's Katie Rogers capitalized on that turnover. She hit two foul shots that sent the Pioneers rowing out to an 8-2 lead through shots from Aerin Ogden and Briar Sands.

The Momma Bears didn't let the first quarter end in complete Lehi domination. Bear River's Jessica Olsen hit a three-pointer and an inside shot to cut the lead to 8-7. Before the Momma Bears could sneak ahead, Sands sank a three-f00t shot to send Lehi with a 10-7 lead into the next quarter.

It opened with a Sands bucket sparking an 8-0 scoring run for the Pioneers. With Rogers sinking two buckets to fuel that rally for Lehi, the Pioneers soon commanded an 18-7 lead. Bear River called a time-out in hopes of making adjustments to keep Lehi from flooding the Momma Bears out of the gym. Late in the second quarter, two Ogden buckets helped to swell the Pioneer advantage to 24-10. Lehi held the Momma Bears to four points in the second quarter.

The Pioneers maintained their double-digit lead all through the third quarter. Two Anau Faleano buckets stretched the Pioneer lead to 28-12, but after a Rogers bucket had put the score at 30-14, Karah Jeppson hit an inside shot that opened a comeback for the Momma Bears. With each team scoring only six points in the third quarter, the Momma Bear comeback picked up steam in the final period. 

"We and Judge went into our game as two undefeated teams. We stayed with them until the third quarter, and the game went downhill for us." Gifford said, "Tonight, Aerin Ogden came up with some big rebounds for us, especially in the second half. Faleano played much better in the second half than she did in the first. Sadie Johnson proved to be a force to be reckoned with on the floor."

It opened with Jeppson sinking an inside shot. Olsen and Jeppson led the Momma Bears in outscoring the Pioneers 9-2 in the final period's first three minutes. When two Jeppsen foul shots had put Bear River within 32-27, the game's outcome was no longer predictable. Lehi had to rely on Rogers foul shots and Faleano buckets in order to stay narrowly ahead. After two Sands foul shots had put the score at 39-33 in the last seven seconds, Lehi finally had the game put away. Still, Momma Bear Shayla Buxton hit a trey just before the final buzzer to remind the Pioneers what could have easily happened to them, had there been a couple of more minutes left on the clock.

"We wanted to shut down No. 32 [Buxton]," Gifford said. "Whitney Cook and Chelz Ato did a job of keeping No. 32 from doing much doing. She scored only five points during the night."

Rogers led Lehi with 11 points while Sands added another eight. Olsen led the Momma Bears with 18 points while Jeppsen added another eight.