Lady Wave stumbles in I-A playoff defeat

It started with promise but then quickly turned into desperation and eventually heartbreak.

The Fallon girls basketball team stumbled in the final three quarters as rival Elko knocked off the Lady Wave, 49-41, in the first round of the Northern Division I-A playoffs on Friday at the Elmo Dericco Gym.

Elko, though, lost 47-43 to Lowry in Saturday’s regional title game, but did qualify for this week’s state tournament in Las Vegas.

A scoring drought didn’t help matters either as the Lady Wave went more than 5 minutes at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second without a basket.

Elko, meanwhile, took advantage and used its pressure defense to stifle Fallon’s transition and post play.

“We talked about not getting beat back on transition,” Fallon coach Anne Smith said. “There was some confusion and I don’t know why there was confusion because there hasn’t been any all season.”

Fallon rode the hot hand of Maggie O’Flaherty to open the game as the lanky senior scored six of the Lady Wave’s seven points. Elko’s Desirea Danner tallied the final three points in the quarter to tie the game at 7.

In the second period, though, the Indians used a 7-0 run to take a 14-7 lead and never looked back.

Elko was able to consistently beat Fallon back in transition and its full-court press defense rattled Fallon’s guards as the Lady Wave’s backcourt consistently lost possession after picking up their dribble before half court. The Lady Wave struggled to make crisp, accurate passes in addition to be swiped from behind on numerous trips down the floor.

The Indians also locked down Fallon’s junior forward Megan McCormick holding her in check throughout the first half.

Fallon’s scoring lull, meanwhile, was finally snapped with 3.43 left in the half when O’Flaherty drove the baseline for a layup to trim the deficit to 14-9.

Elko continued its offensive with buckets from Alicia Marin, Emily Elquist and Danner to take a 24-16 lead.

“There was a lot of pressure and it kept pushing us further and further from the post,” Smith said. “I think they out rebounded us pretty easily.”

Fallon’s shooting woes continued early in the third quarter as Elko extended its lead to 33-18 after a basket by Hailee Simpson. Danner pushed the margin to 37-22 after a jumper, but Fallon cut the lead as Ali Tedford scored the final four points of the period.

McCormick, meanwhile, was able to pick steam in the fourth quarter with six points, but the lead was too much too overcome.

Elko’s defense not only kept Fallon’s trio in check, but only allowed four players to score, with Madison Perazzo adding two field goals for Fallon.

Conversely, Elko had seven players score led by Danner’s 13 points followed by 12 from Simpson.

O’Flaherty led Fallon with 13, while Tedford and McCormick each had 12.