Lady Hawks suffer three losses last week, coach says ‘They just wouldn’t fall for us”
By Matt Harris
01-30-2019
MT. PLEASANT—The North Sanpete Lady Hawks did everything right, except put the ball through the hoop in their three losses last week.
“We couldn’t find the bottom of the net all week,” Head Coach Taylor Christensen said, as the Lady Hawks lost all three of their games against Wasatch Academy, 35-31, Grand County, 42-33, and San Juan, 50-34. “We had a lot of great looks and they just wouldn’t fall for us, which I can live with. Those shots will fall at some point, and when they do, we could go on a run of our own.”
North Sanpete stood stalwart against a Wasatch Academy team standing among the best in 2A, leading by three points at halftime, 18-15, but a second half push by the Lady Tigers secured the win.
The Lady Hawks led the Lady Devils 10-2 after the first quarter of their game against Grand and 19-15 at halftime. North Sanpete kept the lead slimly and looked to hold a two-point advantage going into the fourth, but Grand’s guard heaved a full-court shot at the buzzer that bafflingly found the net for a 28-27 lead. The Lady Devils outscored North Sanpete, 14-6, in the fourth quarter to run away with the victory that ended up being Grand’s first region win of the season.
“I wasn’t happy with the way we came out for this game,” Christensen said, “but [the team] fought hard and gave us a chance to win. Again, we just couldn’t hit shots, but I am proud that they put themselves in a place to win with their defense.”
As one of the 3As best squads, San Juan was expected to blow out the Lady Hawks like they did earlier in the season, but stellar defense kept North Sanpete in the game as the score was a mere six-point difference after three quarters. In the fourth, San Juan turned the heat up on the Lady Hawks’ offense and held them to a two-point quarter and closed out the win on a 14-2 run.
“We did have a great week last week,” Christensen said. “Unfortunately, the scores didn’t turn out like we had hoped. Defensively, I think the girls are coming along really well. We have a lot of length, and along with that length, the girls are athletic enough to defend quick guards if asked to.”
Senior Linzy Flinders scored 11 points against the Lady Broncos to go with a 10-point night earlier against Wasatch Academy. Though the Lady Hawks perennially struggle on offense, Flinders is just outside the top 10 for scoring in 3A girls’ hoops with 12.5 points per game this season.
North Sanpete hosts Emery on Thursday night. Emery is undefeated and has not won a single region game by less than 13 points. The Lady Hawks will then face Richfield on Feb. 5.
