Lady Dinos’ Clutch Down the Stretch *Photo Gallery*

As we get into the meat of the schedule, each game for the Dinos is vital in an extremely competitive Region 12. Prior to Tuesday’s games, the region held the top four spots in the RPI rankings, illustrating its strength. #2 Carbon and #4 Richfield met on the court in Price on Tuesday to fight to remain on top.

The Dinos forced several turnovers in the first quarter, allowing them to gain the upper hand early. They held a three-point lead, 12-9, after the first, but that lead was challenged in the second. Richfield began to go to its sophomore big, Nicole Willardson, which paid dividends for the Wildcats. She ended the half with 11 points and helped Richfield take the lead, 21-20.

The teams traded points in the third quarter as neither team could overcome the other. Holding on to the same one-point lead, Richfield elected to slow the game down substantially in the final period. The Wildcats began running a delay offense to drain the clock. This strategy did not go the Wildcats’ way as Carbon was able to force a couple of turnovers and capitalize on the offensive end.

The Dinos went up by one in the final minute and held Richfield scoreless. The Wildcats were forced to foul Janzie Jensen, who promptly made both her free throws to go up by three. Carbon then forced a steal and scored on the fast break opportunity as the buzzer sounded. The Dinos dug in the final quarter to win 43-38.

Willardson had a game-high 18 points followed by Madi Orth with 13 and Sydney Orth with 10. Another freshman, Amiah Timothy, played some big minutes and finished with seven points.

Turnovers were a major factor in the game as Richfield had 22 compared to the Dinos’ nine. The game would have been more lopsided, but Richfield out-rebounded the Dinos 27-12. The most important stat, as always, is that Carbon mustered out the win to remain on top in Region 12.

The victory sets up a #1 South Sevier (11-2, 4-1) vs #2 Carbon (12-2, 3-1) matchup on Thursday night in Price. Catch all the action on ETV Channel 10 and online at etvnews.com/livesports.