Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Pima’s Maddie Gann gets ready to nail a 3-pointer. Pima girls defeated Arizona Lutheran 48-31 on Saturday.
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – Consistent shooting, good defensive rebounding, strong offensive fast-break push, and finishing the play are characteristics the Pima girls basketball team displayed in its 48-31 victory over Arizona Lutheran on Saturday.
The Pima Roughriders (3-0 region, 4-0 conference, 7-2 overall) finished the early season slate of games with three straight wins after dispatching the Coyotes on Saturday. The team won’t have another game until the Eastern Arizona Holiday Basketball Tournament Dec. 27-29.
Sadie Richardson was Ms. Consistent all night, scoring in each quarter to reach a game-high 13 points. Richardson opened the game with 4 points in the first quarter, made both free-throw attempts in the second, added 4 more points off two field goals in the third, and topped it all off with a 3-pointer in the 4th for good measure.
Point guard Lea Llamas had all 4 of her points in the opening quarter, and junior post player Adysen Hoopes hit 4 of her 8 points on the night to open for Pima.
Arizona Lutheran kept pace in the first behind a huge opening quarter from Kayla Wendt, who hit 7 of her game-high 13 points. By the end of the first, Pima held a slim, 1-point lead, 12-11.
Defenses tightened in the second quarter, with Kelsi Brimhall (7 points) hitting two field goals and Ella Wiltbank (4 points) one in the quarter for Pima. The Roughriders went 4-4 from the free-throw line (2-2 from both Richardson and Hoopes) and increased its lead to 22-18 at the half.
Then came the dynamite.
Under head coach Roy Corona, Pima has shown its penchant to dominate the third quarter upon returning from halftime and Saturday was no aberration from the norm.
The Pima defense locked down the Coyotes to just one single field goal for the entire quarter.
Conversely, Pima had its highest scoring quarter as Maddie Gann (8 points) let two fly from deep that found their mark and added another field goal for good measure. With 4 more from Richardson and a field goal from Hoopes, Pima suddenly stretched its lead to an unsurmountable 36-20 after the end of the third.
And the Coyotes would get no closer as Richardson and Brimhall both hit shots from deep and Hannah Ashby (4 points) nailed a couple of field goals to help keep pace and Pima left the court victorious, 48-31.
Pima will next play in the 47 annual Eastern Arizona Girls Holiday Basketball Tournament on Dec. 27 – 29.
