Lady Tigers struggle at first,

then notch wins

By Matt Harris 

Staff writer

12-16-2020

MT. PLEASANT—Coach Travis Madsen and the Wasatch Academy girls’ basketball team can breathe a little easier since last week.

After one of their roughest starts to a season in years, they’re finally back to winning again. The Lady Tigers suffered through an 0-4 start to the season, capped off by a 61-49 loss to rival Layton Christian Academy last Monday, but they finally bounced back with two impressive wins, first over Millard, 40-28, last Tuesday, then against American Heritage, 47-39, last Thursday.

“I feel like, as a team, we’ve made a ton of progress from the first day of practice to where we are right now,” Madsen said.

Stiff competition against some of the best teams in 3A and 4A put the Lady Tigers in a tough spot going into their rivalry matchup with LCA, and despite senior Nataly Dunka’s 27 points, Wasatch couldn’t keep up with the Eagles. The Lady Tigers shot merely 8 of 20 from the free throw line.

When Wasatch did finally shake the monkey off its back, it was at the best possible time, knocking off defending 2A champion Millard in front of a crowd of Tiger fans.

“That was a huge win for us,” Madsen said. “Things came together really well for us that night. I think Millard is one of the best, if not the best, coached teams in the state. I have a tremendous amount of respect for their coach, players and school. Millard just does things right.”

It wasn’t just that Wasatch pulled out a win over the heavily-favored Eagles. The Lady Tiger’s outscored Millard in every quarter and held them to their lowest scoring output since 2017.

Dunka again led the way with 21 points, including four 3-pointers.

Dunka paced Wasatch in their second win as well with 23 points against American Heritage, and senior Olivia Jessee came to play as well with 19 points.

The Lady Tigers’ upcoming schedule is unclear due to conflicting published schedules, but they will be playing Utah Military Camp Williams this Thursday in Lehi.