Hannah Evans shoots a basket as Hannah Hitchcock prepares for the rebound during a warmup drill in a Lady Wave practice.
Fallon’s girls’ basketball team continued its run for the top seat in the Northern 3A playoffs Tuesday, cutting through South Tahoe 59-31.
The Lady Wave quickly leapt into the lead. The players raked in points, their defense holding Tahoe at two points for most of the quarter. Fallon quickly reached 18-6 by the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the Wave continue to sail past Tahoe’s defense. The Lady Vikings had several turnovers that played to Fallon’s advantage; a number of steals and interceptions by Fallon also kept the ball out of Viking territory. By halftime, the Lady Wave had opened to a 21-point lead, 32-11.
The Lady Vikings started to recover in the second half. While they pushed hard and scored several points, Fallon kept up its offense. Going into the final quarter, the Lady Wave still held a strong lead.
In the final quarter, South Tahoe gave a final push to close the gap as much as possible. The Wave denied them though, holding them at 29 points while continuing to open their lead. In the final moments of the game, South Tahoe broke through to close the game with a final basket.
Fallon coach Anne Smith said it was a good game for her team and a positive experience. She said the win was a team effort where everyone had time on the floor. The players reviewed footage from their first half game against Tahoe and adjusted their strategies.
“We determined what kind of defense they were going to use and built a game plan around breaking that,” Smith said.
The plan worked and Smith said the Lady Wave was able to control the boards, making lots of rebounds and holding possession.
The high scorers for the game were Caitlyn Welch, Faith Cornmesser and Chandler McAlexander.
The Lady Wave takes on Dayton tonight at 6 p.m. in the Elmo Dericco gym for Winterfest. Smith said they worked on a game plan after reviewing footage and should be ready. The team has worked on a little of everything in practice and expect a good game.
“We’re gonna have to work really hard from now on,” Smith said of the rest of the season.