Wasatch girls basketball team splits 3-2 last week

By Matt Harris

Staff writer

12-12-2019

MT. PLEASANT—Wasatch Academy girls’ basketball showed exceptional strides last week in its ability to compete with tougher teams in 2A and 3A.

The Lady Tigers played five games in five days and came away with a 3-2 split with all of their games coming against public school teams, the Achilles’ heel of their squad for the past few years.

Wasatch Academy swept Millard in a double header, 49-43 and 45-29, and beat Union, 56-36, before dropping respectable losses to Carbon, 50-37, and Springville, 42-39.

“We have great team captains,” Coach Travis Madsen said. “They have helped establish a culture of teamwork, loyalty and preparation for every game.”

Madsen took over as coach of the program this year in wake of the departure of former coach Bianka Balthazar.

Junior Debora Reis led the team in the first game against Millard with 19 points while junior Nataly Dunka chipped in 15 points. In the second game against Millard, Dunka led with an impressive 25 points while Reis followed up with 18.

Against Union, the Lady Tigers did most of their damage to the Lady Cougars in the first half and led 38-19 at halftime. Solid defense spelled victory down the line. Reis led this one with 21 points, while Dunka scored 13, and senior Duda Raimundo scored 11.

Carbon proved more than a match for Wasatch Academy as the Lady Dinos outscored them in every quarter to hand the Lady Tigers their first loss of the season. Reis led with 17, while Raimundo chipped in 10.

Against Springville, the Tigers sported a halftime lead, but saw it fizzle out in the third quarter. Reis led with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds while Dunka put up 10 points.

“I am very proud of the way our team played and feel like we finished this game a better team than we were when we started,” Madsen said.

Wasatch Academy traveled to face American Heritage last Tuesday to begin region play and will host Draper APA tonight.