| Adriana Cordova powers her way to the hoop amid a group of Rich players. |
Although their expectations were set a little higher, the Lady Pirates finished the 1-A State basketball tournament in fourth place after losing on Saturday to Manila High School. Final score was 52-44.
The Pirates started off the week with an easy win over Dugway. They led 14-2 after the first quarter and 40-6 at the half. They won the game 66-35. Scoring in this game was balanced as four starters ended in double figures and the fifth was just a basket away. Heidi Vetere led the way with 14 points and Brandi Webster had 13 points. Adriana Cordova had 11 points and Charle Vetere had 10 points with McKenzie Spadafora having 8 points. Crosby Hatt finished with 6 points and Leah Swalberg had 4 points.
On Thursday, the Pirates had other easy win, this time over Salt Lake Lutheran. Final score was 55-24. Just like Wednesday, they took the early lead and then built on it every quarter. They led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter, 35-14 at the half and 45-18 at the end of the third quarter.
Just like Thursday, four starters ended the game in double figures. Heidi again led the way with 14 points while Charle added 13 points. Adriana scored 12 points and Brandi had 10 points. Charle had a big second quarter with 11 points as she hit three 3-point shots. Also scoring was McKenzie, Leah and Crosby all with 2 points.
And then came Friday and the semi-finals. Green River versus Rich for the opportunity to play in the championship game. Rich won the game 56-49, as everything seemed to go their way in this game.
| Brandi Webster plays defense. |
Green River led 11-8 after the first quarter but they had been down 8-2 before they scored the last 9 points of the quarter. They were outscored 4-0 to start the second quarter and then had to fight to stay in the game the rest of the way. Heidi picked up her third personal foul two minutes into the second quarter and had to sit.
They trailed at the half 24-21.In the third quarter, Rich hit three 3-pointers late in the period to open up a 38-30 lead in what had been a close game. In addition, Charle picked up her fourth foul and then her fifth to take away a good outside scorer for the Pirates as she was out of the game. Adriana and Heidi scored 6 and 8 points respectively in that final quarter to give the team some needed offense but Rich hit their free throws and shots to stay in the game and get the win.
Rich won because they constantly beat Green River to the offensive end of the court all night and because they had a couple of more players to put into the rotation.
| Green River Lady Pirate fans. |
Adriana led the scoring with 17 points and Heidi added 14 points for the third straight day. Brandi had 7 points, Charle had 6 points, Crosby had 3 points and McKenzie had 2 points.
On Saturday in the game for third or fourth place, Green River lost to a team that they had defeated earlier in the year. Manila won the game 52-44.
Green River led 13-7 after the first quarter, 24-19 at the half and 38-30 at the end of third quarter, as they appeared ready for the win. Then the fourth quarter happened. This was totally unexpected. In the first six and a half minutes of the period, Manila went on a scoring binge as they outscored the Pirates 12-6 to cut the Green River lead to 44-42. In the last minute and 30 seconds, Manila scored the only 10 points as they snuck out the win. One stat that really sticks out is Green River 6 for 9 at the free throw line and Manila 21 for 33 at the free throw line. Good reffing, you decide.
Scoring in the game were Heidi, again with 14 points, Adriana with 12 points and Brandi with 12 points. Charle had 4 points and Crosby had 2 points.
| Green River Lady Pirates and coaches at the state tournament in Richfield. |
If you had told Green River at the beginning of the year that they would have finished in the top four in the state, that would have probably been exciting as it was.
But when you sit back and look at the final picture and see that Tabiona won the championship and Manila finished third and you knew that you had defeated both of them, you know the opportunity was there for good things.
Congratulations Lady Pirates for a great season, it was fun for the fans and the students. You are a great team.