Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Ashlynn Chlarson and the Pima Roughriders ripped away the victory over Thatcher on Tuesday night, 63-30.
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – It was déjá Vu all over again as Pima (2-0 conference, 13-1 overall) downed Thatcher (2-1 conference, 6-5 overall) 63-30 on Tuesday night.
The last time these two teams met was for the EAC Girls Holiday Basketball Tournament Championship with Pima the victor, 56-33.
On Tuesday, the Roughriders built an insurmountable lead by limiting the Eagles to a single field goal the entire first half.
“Holding them to 5 points in the first half was big,” said Pima head coach Roy Corona. “That was huge for us.”
It was a slow start by both teams, with the first points scored nearly halfway through the first quarter when Pima’s Ashlynn Chlarson found the bottom of the bucket.
Thatcher’s Olivia Lunt hit two free throws to tie the game back up at 2-2, but Pima then went on a 25-0 run for the next seven game minutes.
Pima was paced by its backcourt consisting of the Sherwood twins, Ashlie and Aubrie, and Saydee Allred.
Aubrie was consistent throughout the game and finished with 7 field goals and 1-2 from the line for 15 points; Allred hit three, 3-pointers and went 3-4 from the charity stripe to finish with 16; and Ashlie Sherwood did it both inside and from deep and went 3-4 from the line for a game-high 20 points.
Other scorers for Pima included Ashlyn Chlarson with 6; Jayci McClain with 4; and Adysen Hoopes with 2. The Roughriders took advantage of Eagles turnovers to go on fast breaks and hit layup after layup.
“It was surprising because in the EAC tournament we didn’t get those fast breaks and today we did,” Corona said.
When in the half-court offense, the Roughriders also played well for most of the game, moving the ball around and getting open shots.
“We’re playing good right now,” Corona said. “I just hope we can keep it up.”
Thatcher hit its first field goal of the game with about three minutes left in the second quarter when Haley Nicholas nailed a bomb from deep. It was Thatcher’s only points in the quarter. Conversely, Pima couldn’t be stopped, and after a 12-point first quarter, the Roughriders went for 22 in the second to go up 34-5 at the half.
Chlarson opened up the scoring again in the third quarter, but the Eagles came out determined to play better and ended up winning the quarter.
Macey Carter opened it up for the Eagles, followed by a bucket by Nicholas. However, Olivia Lunt’s 6 points in the quarter sparked a 10-0 Thatcher run to end the third. Though Pima still led, 46-19.
The teams went back-and-forth in the fourth, as the Sherwood sisters continued to score in the open court and Allred nailed a 3.
Lunt continued to get buckets in the fourth and finished with a team-high 13 on five field goals and 3-4 from the line. Other scorers for Thatcher included Haley Nicholas with 7; Aubrey Pace with 4; and Macey Carter, Ashlyn Thompson, and Jade Griffin all had 2 points each.
Click here to view the Gila Herald’s Photo Album of the game.
Pima will next travel on Thursday to play the Trivium Prep Crimson Knights (1-1), starting at 5:30 p.m.
Thatcher will host the Snowflake Lobos on Friday and the Show Low Cougars on Saturday, both games starting at 5:30 p.m.
