Lady Prospectors hold off Lady Trojans in cross-county thriller

PHILIPSBURG – While it was Montannah Piar that made the play that sealed the deal in Granite’s 32-29 win over county rival Drummond Friday night, it was reserve player Maya Flores who showed she had ice water running through her veins.

Leading by a single point, Piar stepped to foul line for a pair of free throws with 5.2 seconds to play. She missed both shots, but collected her own rebound and was fouled a second time with 2.8 to play. She made both, extending the lead to three and forcing a last-second Hail Mary from Fromm the Lady Trojans that missed its mark.

But earlier in the period it was Flores who made the difference. After leading scorer Ramsey Smith left the game with 6:29 to play, Flores was asked to come into the game and help defend a 10-point lead with Drummond charging fast. After not playing the entire game, Flores was fouled twice and drained all four free throws which proved to be the winning margin. The second set coming with 30.7 seconds left to play and Granite up 28-27.

Smith had scored 16 points before exiting the contest, with fellow starter Ella Tallon fouling out at the 4:00 mark. But Granite found a way to hang on.

“What a win!” exclaimed GHS Head Coach Cash Laslovich. “This team has been putting the time and hard work in at practice. We have been focusing on becoming a strong defensive team.

“We had 22 defensive rebounds & 20 steals. Maya Flores came off the bench when Ramsey fouled (out) and hit clutch free throws for us! We won this together and defense won this game!”

For Drummond, the loss dropped them to 1-1 in district play, heading home to face Victor Saturday night.

DHS Head Coach Logan Wilson had concerns about his team getting complacent as they went into District 13C play, and was the first thing he mentioned postgame.

“This is where we kinda came out flat and I think it all started in warm-ups ahead of the game,” said the first-year head coach. “We were just flat and not a lot of energy.

“You have to give credit to those Philipsburg girls … They got in in that game for each other, cheering, fouled a couple girls out and, wow! That energy was just there and they played a good basketball game today,”

Despite playing just over three quarters, Granite’s Smith led all scorers with 16 that included four very long three-pointers. Piar finished with seven points, while Addi Lilyquist had two points and a team high 10 rebounds.

Remington Cline led the Lady Trojans with her sister Charlee adding six.

In the girls junior varsity half game, Drummond dominated Granite 30-4.

The Lady Trojans were led by Piper Wetsch with 10 points. Averee Rich and Eva Comings each had one basket for the Lady Prospectors.

GIRLS SCORING

Drummond – 7/2/3/17 – 29

Granite – 10/3/9/8 – 32

Drummond – Parsons 2, Nelson 4, ASawfer 1, RCline 11, HSawfer 3, CCline 6

Granite – Smith 16, Piar 7, Tallon 3, Flores 4, Lilyquist 2

Boys Varsity

Having suffered a second near loss in as many games (overtime win against Harrison and buzzer beater versus Charlo), DHS Head Coach Levi Parsons made sure that his Trojan Boys were ready to play. Unfortunately for a younger, inexperienced club like the Prospectors, that meant trouble.

Drummond opened with a tough defense and blistering pace to take a 26-6 lead in the first quarter and never look back.

Brody Rasor led all scorers in the game with 16 points and four assists while Trey Phillips chipped in 12 from the post.

Granite split its points as evenly as possible, with foreign exchange student Martin Puig leading the way with six.

BOYS SCORING

Drummond – 26/19/13/10 – 70

Granite – 6/2/13/1 – 22

Drummond – Rasor 16, Parke 9, Coleman 2, James 6, Bradshaw 2, Graveley 5, Suthers 8, Phillips 12, McNally 4, Dunkerson 6

Granite – Dauenhauer 3, Lee 5, Quinlan 4, Shoutis 2, Lattin 2, Puig 6