Lady Templars run up two wins, now sporting 4-3 record
By Matt Harris
Staff writer
12-19-2019
MANTI—The Lady Templars basketball team made a statement to the upcoming region last week with an impressive 2-0 streak.
Manti girls’ hoops moved back to a winning record, 4-3, with wins over Providence Hall, 52-19, and Beaver, 54-47, last week.
“Statement week is a good way to term it,” Coach Brennon Schweikart said. “But it’s only a statement if you back it up the following week. What a great week of basketball! I love how much fight our ladies have.”
The Lady Templars have scored 50-plus points in three consecutive games, their first time doing so since the 2006-07 season when they took third in state.
“They have learned how to win and what it takes to be great,” Schweikart said. “Those are the steps that we continue to focus on taking as a team.”
The Lady Templars also established consistency on the offensive side of the ball by scoring 10 point or more in all eight quarters of play during the week.
Against Providence Hall, Manti established an insurmountable lead early with a 16-2 first quarter. They led 28-8 at the half.
Manti’s high scoring effort was led merely by 10 points from junior Taylor Chidester, but nine different Lady Templars put points on the board in a tremendous ball-sharing effort.
“This offense will continue to thrive if we continue to play hard, have fun and play as a collective we,” Schweikart said. “Our offense is predicated on making the smart decision, offensively and defensively, playing good help-side defense or making the extra pass on offense.”
Against Beaver, one of the top 2A teams, Manti struggled with the Lady Beavers for three quarters. With a 36-32 score in Beaver’s favor to start the fourth, Manti went on an impressive run to finish the game, scoring 22 points in the final frame and pulling away for the victory.
Junior Allie Bridges led with an impressive stat line of 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Lady Templars pulled out the win despite the Lady Beavers getting 31 free throw attempts, netting 20 points off those shots alone. Manti struggled from the line in both contests, going 1-8 against Providence Hall and 10-18 against Beaver.
“We have a group that is thrilled to be in the gym together and have learned to trust each other and rely on each other’s strengths,” Schweikart said. “This is just the beginning.”
Manti played on the road at Juab last Tuesday to begin region play and continues today against Maeser Prep. The Lady Templars will then wrap up non-region play with a trip to the Central Utah Basketball Preview.
At the Preview, Manti will take on South Sevier on tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., and they will play Emery on Saturday evening at 7 p.m.
