Lady Prospectors topple Twin Bridges in comeback win
PHILIPSBURG – After trailing for three and a half quarters, The Granite Lady Prospectors used a 23-9 fourth quarter rally to earn a 54-52 win over Twin Bridges Saturday night.
It was a slow start for the locals in the first half, trailing by 11 after one period and 12 at halftime. But a furious rally in the last half of the third followed by the surge in the fourth made all the difference. Granite used a full court press that took a toll on the Falcons in the second half, pressuring the ball whenever Twin Bridges got it near a corner.
The Lady Prospectors eventually tied the game at 47-47 with 2:11 to play. They would take a brief lead on an Amelia Hill basket inside, only to have the game knotted at 50-all moments later on a Reece Pitcher free throw with 1:14 to play. On the following inbounds, Asha Comings stole the ball off the press and fed Rachel Ward who scored to the hosts up 52-50.
After possessions by each team, Asha Comings was fouled bringing the ball up court and hit a pair of free throws to make it 54-50 with 30.1 seconds to play. The Falcons’s Hailey Pack went end to end to score with 18 seconds to play, but the visitors could get no closer.
Hill finished as Granite’s leading scorer with 21, getting 11 of them in the final period. Likewise, Shelby Struna had 14 points, getting six in the final eight minutes.
Granite gets a pair of home games this coming week, hosting Lima Friday and Seeley Swan Saturday.
SCORING
TWIN BRIDGES - 19/10/14/9 - 52 GRANITE - 8/9/14/23 – 54
Twin Bridges – Jantzen 4, Stockett 5, ADale 8, George 4, Kaiser 4, Guinane 11, KDale 6, Johnson 10
Granite – AHill 21, Struna 14, Ward 3, Pitcher 5, GHill 1, Comings 8, Radtke 4
Boy’s Varsity
Twin Bridges 76, Granite 51
The Prospectors stayed within arm’s reach for three quarters before the No. 2 ranked Falcons hit the gas and pulled away for the win.
Granite trailed by just three after the first stanza, but saw senior post play Daniel Brabender get into deep foul trouble when he collected his fourth personal foul midway into the second. Bryce Parret filled in for Brabender, but he too got into foul trouble and had three by the break. The second half saw Twin Bridges start to break the Prospector press with more regularity, turning possessions into points.
“It helps playing Anaconda last night and Twin tonight,” said GHS Head Coach Dustin Keltner of his team facing tough opponents on back to back nights. “They did a great job valuing our possessions, rotating and looking for teammates. One thing about this group of kids is that they are not going to back down or be intimidated by anybody.”
Brain Ward was the only double-figure scorer for the locals, hitting six three pointers on his way to 19 for the game.
SCORING
TWIN BRIDGES – 15/20/18/23 - 76 GRANITE – 12/17/11/11 – 51
Twin Bridges – BNye 10, Kruer 20, CNye 2, Smith 8, Konen 2, Carter 4, Harmon 2, Kaiser 26
Granite – Cutler 7, PMetesh 6, Ward 19, Brabender 5, AMetesh 2, Tallon 6, Parret 4, O’Donnell 2
