BY KENNY BRISTOW
Wave Sports Writer
Coaches often speak in cliches like, "we'll get'em next time" and "we'll take it one game at a time", but in the case of tonight's girl's basketball game between Wasatch and Mountain View, when the coach might say, "we need to play all four quarters"... well, he might be on to something.
The Wasatch Lady Wasps, who have had a pretty impressive season thus far, came to play on this night, hosting the Lady Bruins of Mountain View and falling short in the battle 44-40. It was a long an exhausting game, for both sides, but the Bruins came out on top due to their sharp free throw shooting and ability to keep the ball away from the Wasps in the final quarter.
The contest started with Mountain View jumping out on top, but with the Wasps catching up quickly.
After being down by a point after the first quarter, Wasatch displayed toughness in the paint, out rebounding the Bruins and scoring underneath, taking the lead at halftime 21-18.
Both teams came out strong in the second half, playing fundamentally sound basketball. Passes were crisp, shots were precise and defense was effective on both ends of the court. By the end of the third quarter Wasatch had worked their way to an eight point lead behind the shooting of point guard Ashlyn Coleman, forward Riley Gagon and shooting guard Rebecca MaWhinney. Turnovers, however, began to plague the lady Wasps, who were beginning to lose that lead with only three minutes left in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter started slowly and eventually became a marathon with neither team taking control of the game. Missed shots, missed put-backs, turnovers... it began to look a little sloppy. It went this way for the majority of the fourth quarter until the excitement - and separation -for the Bruins, began.
With the game tied at 36, a mysterious blocking foul gave Mountain View a 1 on 1 which they converted for a one point lead. Wasatch then tied it up on a free throw of their own, but failed to score on their next possession, putting the Lady Bruins in the driver's seat for the victory. After a missed shot by the Wasps, MountainView scored three on an and-one putting the Lady Bruins ahead for good.
Afterwards, head coach Tom Perkins looked to the turnovers as the culprit. "We didn't take good care of the ball," he said. "We had missed shots under the basket that were easy and open and we didn't hit them," the coach added. "We had an eight point lead and couldn't protect the ball... something we'll have to take a look at."
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