Girls end week with 48-44 victory over Lady Bulldogs
GUNNISON—The Lady Hawks felt the sting of losing last week, but they relished in the chance to hand it back before all was said and done.
The North Sanpete girls’ basketball team moved to 2-2 on the year, their best mark in the first four games of a season in the Taylor Christensen era, with a 1-2 week. The Lady Hawks fell in consecutive losses to top-level competition, going down against Summit Academy, 67-38, and 4A Cedar City, 61-31, last Tuesday and Wednesday at home, respectively.
They then ended the week on a high note with a road rivalry win over Gunnison Valley, 48-44, last Thursday.
The Lady Hawks were playing without the leadership of Coach Christensen, who was dealing with issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They did a great job fighting through adversity and coming out of the week with a win,” Christensen said. “We have some room to improve, but they are working hard each day to make that happen.”
While both of the early games resulted in pretty lopsided affairs, junior Tylee Henrie was a bright spot in the dark. Henrie led the Lady Hawks in scoring all throughout the week, scoring 13 points against Summit Academy and 17 points against Cedar City.
Against Gunnison, the Lady Bulldogs had the initial upper hand as they held a 17-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Slowly but surely, North Sanpete chipped away at the lead, showing a consistency unseen in the Lady Hawks in times past. North Sanpete retook the lead by the end of the third quarter and held on for the win.
Henrie shared scoring duties with junior Kortley Cook, and the junior pair scored 14 points apiece. The effort was just enough to overcome a sensational performance by Gunnison junior Rilee Dyreng, who nailed five 3-pointers as part of a 20-point showing. Senior Raven Pickett also scored 10 points as part of a double-double with 14 rebounds.
North Sanpete travels this Tuesday to face North Sevier before coming back home to host Duchesne this Thursday.
