Lady Pirates basketball on the road

By ROYD HATT Guest Writer

The Lady Pirates took to the road last week and faced three non region opponents. It was a busy, tiring schedule for the team in Grand County and Orderville, but the Pirates were up to the task and improved their record to 4-1. The team came away with three wins and continued to improve as a team.
The girls worked well together in their trip to Grand County High School and played great team defense to easily put away the Red Devils, 48-29. The Pirates jumped out to a big lead and held it the entire game. All 10 players saw playing time and the Green cruised to a nice victory.
Michaela Hughes had a great night, going 11-17 on her way to a season high 24 points. She also had eight rebounds and two steals. Megan Hatt played well scoring 11 points, four boards, nine assists and five steals. Jamie Johnson did well on both ends of the floor coming up with nine points, seven rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Sydney Thayn made her contribution by making two points, four boards and three assists. Feleisha Antillion rounded out the starters and finished the night with two assists, one rebound and one steal. All 10 Pirates played on their way to a good road win.
On the weekend the Pirates went on the road again to play in the Buffalo Shootout in Orderville at Valley High School. Due to the distance, the team stayed overnight and ended up playing two more nonregion opponents.
The first night, they were matched with the Tabiona Tigers. This was a tough game from the start. Green River came out strong and jumped out to a good lead. Megan Hatt cut through the Tabiona press on her way to 13 first quarter points and the Green was up 15-8 at the end of one. Tabby pulled off the press and fought back to make the score 24-18 at half. Foul trouble plagued the Pirates with Hughes, Hatt and Johnson all with three part way through the third quarter. Taylor Johnson, Hannah Manalilli and Kira Engleman all had to play some meaningful minutes and each did well on their way to gaining valuable experience. Taylor ended with four boards. The Pirates were up by 14 half way through the third quarter as Hatt came out sharp shooting to score 10 straight points. The Tigers didn’t give up and pulled to within three in the fourth. Hughes fouled out and Johnson and Hatt had to be careful as they both had foul trouble. It was a tough game that proved the Pirates had toughness as they withstood the Tiger pressure and finish the game nicely to win 47-43. Jamie Johnson came up big in the last few minutes of the game to get offensive rebounds and score all of her five points and put the game away. Megan Hatt found her shooting touch going 11-20 from the field including three 3-pointers on her way to a season high 31 points. Hatt also had six boards and six steals. Michaela Hughes continued her scoring way, going five for eight and ending with 11 on the night, with nine rebounds two assists and two steals.
It was a great victory for the Pirates and set them up to play for the tournament championship with host team the Valley Buffaloes. Valley had beaten the Tigers quite easily in the first game of the season, so this was shaping up to be a battle.
The Big Green came out quickly again in this game however and didn’t have foul trouble. The girls also seemed to have found their identity and played well together and after the quick lead never looked back. Hatt played very well again and came out blazing hot scoring nine first quarter points. Hughes and Johnson were each 5-11 on the night from the field and the big three for the Pirates shot an outstanding 53 percent on the night making 18 of 34 for 39 points.
Everyone played with great confidence and easily put away the Buffaloes on their home floor 65-27. Hatt again came up big with 22 points on 8-13 shooting and three threes. Hughes was huge with 17 points and 14 rebounds and Jamie Johnson ended with a great 15 points and 11 boards. Feleisha Antillion hit a 30 footer at the buzzer and had five points on the night while Sydney Thayn had two points and seven boards.
It was a break out game for the team. Coach Parsons has said, “If Hatt, Hughes and Johnson all score in double figures, we will be very tough to beat.”
At the end of the night Megan Hatt and Michaela Hughes were named to the all tournament team with Hatt bringing home the MVP. Megan was also named Facebook’s, Utah Prep Stars, Utah athlete of the day on Dec. 1.
The Pirates have seemed to find themselves and are playing very well. Their run and gun style is exciting to watch and we hope you will support Pirate activities.