Fallon senior Leta Otuafi is fouled in the first half against Dayton.
The Lady Wave didn’t miss a beat as it began the new year with a convincing 57-7 win over Dayton on Friday in a Northern 3A game at the Elmo Dericco Gym.
The lopsided win improved Fallon’s record to 6-0 in league play and 11-2 overall with a big rivalry game looming Friday against Lowry.
The Lady Wave’s game against Dayton was decided within the first five minutes when Fallon rolled to a 13-0 lead. The Wave’s pressure defense frustrated the Dust Devils into committing a handful of turnovers, while Kenna Hamlin scored on two baskets as did Leta Otuafi.
Fallon coach Anne Smith said she was happy with the win. Since the Spring Creek win in mid-December, Smith said the team has struggled, but the Wave played more focused against the Dust Devils.
“They (Fallon) did a good job tonight,” she said. “We made some mistakes, but we also cleaned up some things.”
Fallon worked its inside game against Dayton in taking the quick lead. The Dust Devils didn’t score until 2:46 when Hannah Coltrin had a layup from the left side.
The Wave then buried Dayton on an 11-0 run to lead 24-2 after one quarter of play. Emily Wright, Madison Whitaker and Makenzee Moretto came off the bench to score for Fallon, while Leta Otuafi scored a pair of baskets, one a 15-foot jump shot.
Fallon outscored Dayton 14-4 in the second quarter with half the points coming from the free throw line. Leilani Otuafi scored three points, and her cousin Leta had four points inside the paint. Dayton’s Elizabeth Vincent launched a 3-pointer from the corner, and Katie Dunkin sunk a free throw for the Dust Devils only points.
Smith said Fallon had some breakdowns on its rotation by substituting all the players, but she feels the players will get used to each other on the floor. Smith said the team also missed quite a few easy shots underneath the basket, something the team will focus on this week.
Fallon pitched a shutout on the third quarter on baskets from Hamlin, Moretto, Whitaker and Leta Otuafi. Moretto also had a free throw. Because Fallon led by more than 35 points, the rest of the game was played with a running clock.
The Wave continued to work its inside game along the baseline, while Moretto’s basket came from the Fallon junior driving the entire court for a layup.
The Wave wrapped up the league game with a 10-1 run in the final quarter with the reserves seeing most of the action.
Wright nailed a shot from top of the key, and Hamlin made a layup, while Chandler McAlexander and Whitaker combine for 4 of 6 from the charity stripe.
Samantha Cleland’s free throw late in the game accounted for Dayton’s only second-half point.
Overall, Smith said the reserve players remained focused and played well.
“Coming off the bench, they did what I asked them to do,” she added.
Leta Otuafi said rotating players throughout the game will definitely help the Wave as the younger players continually have more playing time. During last week’s practices, she said the team focused on defense and working with different rotations.
“No matter who we play we have to work on our game and not worry about the other team,” she said.
Leta Otuafi led Fallon with 14 points, and Hamlin added 11 and Moretto 10. Whitaker scored 9 followed by McAlexander with 6, Leilani Otuafi with 3 and Wright and Alexis Jarrett with 2 each.