Sports
3A girls basketball playoffs: Ben Lomond wins 1st playoff game … – Standard-Examiner
OGDEN — Before Wednesday, Ben Lomond High School hadn’t won a girls basketball playoff game for 24 years, according to UHSAA online records.
The Scots beat Delta in a first-round home game in 1999 and went 0-7 in postseason games since then.
On Wednesday, Ben Lomond ended its playoff win drought by forcing Union High into a 10-plus minute scoring drought across the first and second halves, which ultimately paved the way for a 52-31 win over the Cougars.
“I’ve played for three years here at Ben Lomond and this is the farthest we’ve ever made it since I’ve been here obviously … and throughout the season we’ve done so well,” junior Dory Jenson said. “This playoff game just showed, I think it’s the best game we’ve played. Our second half was so good, so we’re feeling so pumped for our next game on Saturday.”
The scoring drought began after a free throw with 1:16 left in the second quarter and ended with a layup high off the glass by Union guard Peyton Murray with 7:10 left in the fourth, encompassing 10:06 of game time.
Between that time, No. 14 Ben Lomond (12-10) embarked on a 16-0 run that bumped its lead from 25-19 to 41-19 and effectively iced a game that was 180 degrees opposite in the first quarter.
“We were just attacking the gaps and … making the extra pass, and then we were knocking down shots,” senior Kyara Tinajero said. “And then defensively, we stepped up as well because we were able to get some steals, and just kind of went from there.”
Early on, No. 19 Union (2-21) played like a team primed for an upset win. The Cougars made a 3-pointer off a Ben Lomond turnover to take an 11-5 lead with 1:36 left in the first quarter. From there, the game shifted.
“I think we were just excited to finally not have to travel super far and be able to host a home playoff game, and just to have the crowd here knowing that it’s at Ben Lomond. We were just excited overall,” Tinajero said.
With 2 seconds left in the first quarter, Ben Lomond’s Jazlynn Tinajero made a deep 3-pointer just in front of the “T” in “SCOTS” that runs along the north sideline to cut the Cougars’ lead to 11-10 going to the second.
Kyara Tinajero made 3s on back-to-back possessions in the first minute of the second quarter, followed by a Dory Jenson two-pointer and an Ariana Liptrap 3 that made the Scots’ lead 21-13 and forced a Union timeout with 5:23 left in the half.
Ben Lomond went scoreless on offense for more than 4 minutes of the third quarter, but its defense was simultaneously locking the Cougars into their scoring drought.
“They had this really good shooter, we shut her down. Everybody else, we just clicked on defense. Jazzy (Tinajero) was marking that shooter and so we all just locked it down on defense and we were able to shut everybody down, work together, get steals, blocks, all that,” said Jenson, who scored 14 points.
Leading 36-19, Kyara Tinajero scored BL’s first five points of the fourth quarter — she led all scorers with 23 — with a fastbreak layup and a contested 3 before the scoring drought ended.
Head coach Chelsye Saulsberry subbed out the starters with 2:07 left in the game.
“Pretty excited, you know, it’s one of our best seasons. We play game by game, we don’t play for the future, we play game by game and today they came to play,” Saulsberry said.
UHSAA’s online records don’t go back far enough to show the last time Ben Lomond won two playoff games in the same season, but the Scots have a chance to do just that on Saturday at No. 3 Morgan.
2A PLAYOFFS: ST. JOSEPH 56, UTAH MILITARY 22
OGDEN — Lizzie Randall scored 21 points, with 12 in the first quarter, to lead No. 13 St. Joseph Catholic High to a first-round 2A state playoff win over No. 20 Utah Military Academy. Katelyn Martinez added 10 points for St. Joseph (10-11) and Sarah Snell scored eight.
Rose Arana led Utah Military (4-13) with 12 points and Kendall Prieto scored 10. The Jayhawks face No. 4 APA-Draper in the second round on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.
Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.
Copyright © Standard-Examiner | www.standard.net | 332 Standard Way, Ogden, UT 84404
