Oasis's Sadie O'Flaherty passes the ball to a teammate during Wednesday's home game.
Wednesday night’s game between the Oasis Academy’s Lady Bighorns and Silver Stage was a lot closer than the final score indicated.
In the third quarter, Oasis led. Then the Nighthawks turned up the defense and pulled away for a 53-33 victory.
The first quarter opened in a stalemate as both teams matched point for point before the Lady Nighthawks outpaced Oasis to lead, 10-4. The Lady Bighorns tried to recover in the second quarter but entered halftime trailing, 21-15.
In the third quarter the Lady Bighorns rallied. They got baskets from Brooklyn Whitaker, Sadie O’Flaherty and Janelle Pike and then tied the game on a Sequoya Casey layup. Whitaker and Taryn Barrenchea would then give Oasis a lead.
That’s when the game turned. Silver Stage tied the game on a free throw before scoring another basket to end the quarter.
The Lady Nighthawks overpowered the Oasis offense in the fourth quarter, holding them to two baskets from O’Flaherty and a free throw from Whitaker.
Oasis Coach Dusty Casey said Silver Stage laid on pressure in the final quarter and his team wasn’t ready for it. He added they stopped doing what had worked for them the rest of the game.
“Truthfully we just panicked,” he said. “We started panicking in the fourth quarter, getting a little tired, not moving where we needed to, we quit rebounding. That’s how quick it can happen, going from a tight game to a 20-point game, just like that.”
Whitaker led the Lady Bighorns with 16 points. O’Flaherty followed with six points, Sequoya Casey scored five, and Pike and Barrenchea scored three.
Coach Casey said he’s very happy with how the bench players contributed. He said everyone has been improving and that “the lights are starting to click.”
“They’ve come a long way,” he said. “They’re starting to come out and they can hold their own for the two or three minutes they’re in there; they’re giving us good time and playing really good.”
The Lady Bighorns have their final game of the season next Friday, hosting Tonopah in Venturacci Gym at 4:30 p.m. Casey said they’re looking forward to the game. He said the Lady Bighorns are a different team from the one that played a month ago and it should be a much closer game.