Saturday, December 22, 2012

Lehi-Granger Girls' Basketball Game

Timp Sports Weekly
December 25, 2012


Publisher's Message

For this week's issue, we look at the Dec. 21 game that the Lehi Pioneers, AKA the Froggies, played on the road against the Granger Lancers, AKA the Stickers, in girls' basketball action. The game revealed great efforts by both teams, especially the Froggies, who had managed to hop back from a 20-point deficit to make the contest as thrilling as a well directed sports movie like Hoosiers. As they say in Lehi, let's swim straight to that story.

Dean Von Memmott
Publisher
magnanovelist@gmail.com

Granger Sickers Survive Lehi Froggie 4th-Quarter Rally to Win 66-56 Dec. 21
By Dean Von Memmott
Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

In losing their starting point guard four minutes into their Dec. 21 game, the Granger Lancers, AKA the Stickers, found themselves having to rely on the services of a ninth-grader and a sophomore to guide them to a 66-56 win at home over the Lehi Pioneers, AKA the Froggies. The two underclassmen's services proved really valuable when the Froggies hopped back from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to get within six points of Granger.

Now at the start of the game, Sticker Anela Alagic hit a three-point to open the night's scoring. Froggie Brooklyn "Dodger" Willes hit an inside shot in hopes of enabling Lehi to row ahead really soon. However, Summer "Bud" Judd nailed an inside shot that enabled her Stickers to maintain a tight hold on the lead, even though two Faitoto Falaeo free throws put the Froggies within 5-4. Two Jessica Matheson free throws stirred up an 8-0 scoring run for the Stickers. However, that shooting spree yielded a dear price for Granger. While scoring her second layup for the night during the rally, Sticker starting point guard Pela "Tap" Tapusoa injured a leg upon landing back down on the floor during 4:32.

"She's done for the night," said Lehi sweeper Dean Von Memmott to Jessica Matheson's wheelchair-bound grandma.

"Oh, she'll be all right," the grandmother said. "She'll back in action real soon."

Tap didn't go back into the game. Her head coach, Eric Cousins, and a red-shirted athletic trainer carefully escorted her out of the gym and into a training room. When she reappeared in the gym a short time later, she had her wrapped, injured leg resting on a chair, and she spent the rest of the game watching the action on the floor.

"When my point guard got hurt, my freshman [Melisa Kadic] and sophomore [Jessica Matheson] guards stepped up and did a good job in filling in for her," Cousins said. "Both of those girls really grew tonight."

Kadic and Matheson went on a shooting spree right after Tap's departure from the game. The two underclassman guards' scoring efforts helped to produce a 22-8 lead for the Stickers by the end of the first quarter.

The next quarter opened with an Amber Wright layup extended the lead to 24-8. Willes, Faleao, Tyra "T-Rod" Rodriguez, Beth Beeston, Kaylie Bartholemew, and Reesie Tua paced Lehi attempts at reducing the lead to single figures in the second quarter. However, Kadic and Matheson undermined the Froggies' efforts. The two Stickers received much help from Wright, Lile Havilli, Judd, and Kelsie Morandy in keeping the Froggies out of the game during the quarter. By halftime, Granger commanded a 35-18 lead over Lehi.

The Stickers' lead finally passed the 20-point mark in early in the third quarter when Judd put a shot back in, setting the score at 41-20. Havilli's scoring enabled the Stickers to stay more than 20 points ahead in the quarter. Lehi's players became more aggressive during it, though. Willes and Bartholomew came up with several steals for Lehi while Falaeo, Beetson, and Cherish Mansfield pulled down some defensive rebounds that kept the Stickers from pushing the point spread past 30.

With the score reading 57-33, Granger, at the start of the fourth quarter, the Stickers became lax in their performance, figuring the Froggies had been thoroughly vanquished. Granger made some sloppy passes that the Froggies took advantage of. Rodriguez, Mansfield, and Falaeo sunk free throws that opened an 8-1 scoring run for the Froggies. With the score 58-41, Alagic hit an inside shot as she got fouled. She missed a free throw, which Falaeo rebounded. The defensive rebound set off a furious rally for the Froggies. Paced by Willes and Falaeo, they racked up 15 straight unanswered points that pushed them within 62-56. The Froggies' shocking comeback scared the Stickers into realizing that Lehi was not all dried up. After a Falaeo bucket had cut the lead to 62-56, the Stickers went into two stalls in hopes of clinching the game. Layups by Wright and Judd put the game away from the Stickers.

Lehi Coach Troy Grifford said, "I was pleased that my girls did a great job in the fourth quarter, outscoring Granger 26-9. We could have gotten within five, had the refs called a foul on Granger near the end of the game. Still, it was great to see our girls battle back like they did. Next week, we're going to be at Westlake."

Willes led the Froggies with 15 points while Falaeo added another 12, Beeston nine, Tua eight, Rodriguez four, and Bartholemew four. Wright and Havilli led the Stickers with 14 points each while Matheson added another 13 and Kadic.

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