Lady Pirates finish up region play in second place

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Green River high school hosted Monument Valley High School to a night of basketball on Friday night before a packed and rowdy house. The lady Pirates (12-7; 5-3) had a score to settle against the lady Cougars (14-4; 8-0) who, some might say, stole a win against Green River on Monument Valley’s home floor a few short weeks earlier. With 2.3 seconds remaining on the game clock and the home team up by two; Jamie Johnson trying to gain control of the ball under her own basket, was ‘bumped’ out of bounds where she crashed to the floor on a no-call from the officials. It was that kind of a night.
This night was to be different but coming off a heart breaking loss to the lady Raiders a week earlier made this game all the more important. The free throw struggling lady Pirates held their own for the first quarter but the wheels fell off the bus in the second quarter where lady Cougar star Heidi Nelson dropped in three of her four treys. It didn’t help that the lady Cougars doubled the lady Pirates third quarter output by scoring 18 points.
The never-die lady Pirates battled to the end but couldn’t overcome earlier mismatches and tentative play on the court. With three region losses, the remaining two games are critical if the lady Pirates hope to make an appearance at State.
The boys took to the floor next in a fast paced, street ball style of play where only one foul was called during the first quarter. Nick Corrigan started off with two quick field goals followed by Green River Pirate leading scorer, Spencer Marshall who drained a trey.
The Pirates took a slim four point lead into the locker room at half time which turned into a three point deficit at the end of three where Spencer Marshall and TJ Hughes continued their dominance on the floor.
The MV Cougars outscored the Pirates in the fourth quarter as well with the home team Pirates standing on the charity stripe five times while the visiting Cougars stood there 15 times, making nine out of 15.
The upset loss gives the Green River Pirates three league losses and much like the lady Pirates their chances for post play rests squarely on the outcome of the next three games. After suffering two disappointing home losses, the Green River lady Pirates took their dreams of extending their basketball season on the road as they played the lady Raiders of Whitehorse. A nice place to visit with a friendly enough crowd but wins are hard to come by on this remote court in Southeast Utah where seniors Michaela Hughes, Jamie Johnson and Feleisha Antillon took charge early and never looked back as the lady Pirates outscored the lady Raiders 24 – 4 in the second quarter.
In fact, the lady Raiders outscored the lady Pirates the next two quarters and made 11 out of 12 from the charity stripe to put pressure on the gals in green but this time they held strong and delivered. Kira Engleman went five for five from the line in the second half and the team went 10 for 15 in the fourth quarter while shooting 64 percent from the line for the night.
This was a great improvement over the previous game at home against the lady Cougars where the lady Pirates scored one more field goal than their opponent but only shot 40 percent from the line – essentially giving away the win.
The lady Pirates took the momentum from their win against Whitehorse and used it to propel them to a win against a determined lady Bronco team who played on the Pirates home floor on Friday night. The last game of the season (and of their careers, for the seniors) allowed for the soon-to-be-graduating seniors a chance to play before a very appreciative home crowd.
The lady Pirates sewed up the season with a respectable 7-3 region record to earn them a second place seed at the state tournament beginning on Feb. 13 at 11:30 a.m. against the lady Tigers of Milford.