Lady Hawks making ‘huge,
huge strides’ but fall to
three opponents last week
By James Tilson
Staff writer
Feb. 1, 2018
MT. PLEASANT—Despite making what Coach Randi Griffith calls “huge, huge strides since the beginning of the year,” the Lady Hawks of North Sanpete High School went 0-3 last week in girls basketball, falling to South Sevier 50-25, to Grand County 49-38 and to San Juan 46-36.
Griffith, after the game with San Juan, explained that her team started out way behind most other varsity teams and has worked very hard to catch up.
She said, “We came in with very little varsity experience. We only had two girls that had started in a junior varsity game. We took this team and threw them to the wolves.”
In spite of their lack of experience, the Lady Hawks have continued to work all season, and their efforts have shown great results, although not necessarily in wins.
Griffith added, “They’ve responded. It’s not easy to play hard when you’re having a tough season. It shows their character that they’re willing to fight through this.”
Against South Sevier on Tuesday, Jan. 23, in an away game, the Lady Hawks were only behind by two at the end of the first quarter but were ultimately doomed by the second quarter when they could not score and allowed 21 points.
In the third quarter, the Lady Hawks outscored the Lady Rams by three but lost by 25, 50-25.
In a home game on Friday, Jan. 26, against Grand, once again a bad quarter was too much for the Lady Hawks to overcome.
This time, the Lady Hawks were outscored 19-6 in the first quarter and had to scramble to try to catch up. North Sanpete bested Grand in the second quarter 10-2, but the Lady Hawks were unable to outscore the Lady Devils in the third quarter and came out even in the fourth, 13-13.
In the 11-point loss, 49-38, North Sanpete’s Anna Wright scored in double figures with 12 points.
Against San Juan at home on Saturday, Jan. 27, the Lady Hawks held on to the Lady Broncos much closer than in their other games last week and were only down five points at halftime.
But a few defensive lapses early in the second half were too much to overcome as they fell behind seven more points in the third quarter.
The Lady Hawks mounted a desperate comeback attempt in the fourth quarter and came out on top that quarter by two points, but their efforts came up short in the end by 10 points, 46-36.
Sarah Oldroyd had nine points for the Lady Hawks while Bodell Nielson sank three three-pointers for the Lady Broncos and had a total of 24 points.
Free throws also made a huge difference, with San Juan putting in 14 of 22 and North Sanpete making five of seven.
North Sanpete has three Region 15 games left in the schedule.
On Tuesday, the Lady Hawks traveled to Emery (score unavailable). On Tuesday, Feb. 6, they host the Lady Wildcats of Richfield, and for the final game of the season on Thursday, Feb. 8, they host the Lady Templars of Manti High.
These final games will be crucial to determine which teams make the state playoffs at the end of the season.
With the Lady Templars’ only region win coming over North Sanpete earlier this year, and six teams from the seven-team Region 15 qualifying for the playoffs, the final game between North Sanpete and Manti looms large.
