#4 Carbon and #5 Richfield tipped off the girls’ side of the 3A state basketball tournament on Thursday afternoon. Neither team found a rhythm early as the Dinos held a slight 10-9 advantage after one quarter.
Richfield started to find it in the second, however, overtaking Carbon 21-17 by half. Becca Poulsen sunk a couple three-pointers in the first half and finished the night 4-7 from beyond the arc.
The third quarter was much like the second. Carbon continued to struggle on the offensive end while Richfield slowly separated itself from the Dinos. Trialing by nine with one quarter left to play, the Lady Dinos dug in their claws. Richfield began to slow the game down, allowing Carbon the opening it needed to climb back into the game.
The Lady Dinos trialed by as many as 10 before they started to find their shots. Carbon pulled within three, 42-39, with two and half minutes left, making it a one-possession game. A minute later, Carbon scored again to come within one point.
Then, with 33 seconds left, Carbon knotted it up at 44 and had to play defense. The Lady Dinos did just that and called a timeout with 14 seconds left, looking to complete the comeback. Both teams had a shot at the end, but neither converted, forcing overtime.
The extra period was extremely tight as free throws determined the contest. The Dinos scored eight points in overtime, all from the charity stripe where they went a perfect 8-8 down the stretch. Richifeld, on the other hand, went 5-8 from the free-throw line.
Lyndee Mower was fouled while Carbon had a one-point lead late and hit two clutch free throws to put the Dinos back up by three. The desperation shot went long for the Wildcats, ending the exciting game with Carbon on top 52-49.
Madi Orth led the Dinos with 17 points despite being in foul trouble for most of the game. Makenna Blanc really took over the last two periods, driving down the lane and making it to the free-throw line. She finished 8-10 from the charity stripe and scored 13 points on the night. Sydney Orth had an excellent game as well, tallying 11 points and a team-high six rebounds.
The Dinos advance to play #8 Morgan on Friday at 3 p.m.
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- Photos by Dusty Butler
