RENO- The Artesia girl's basketball scored early, often, and in bunches on Saturday in the State Farm championship game at McQueen. And Galena, as it turned out, was just in the way.
The Pioneers had three different players score in double figures and poured in 10 3-pointers as they went on to a 70-34 win over the Grizzlies.
Artesia, a first time entrant to the tournament, was led by sophomore Lauren Ervin, who scored a game-high 17 points and junior Brittany Thomas, who had 16. Thomas, who was selected as the tournament's most valuable player, had four of the Pioneers 3-pointers.
"They were big, strong, and quick," said Galena coach Karen Friel. "We wanted to double down on one of their big girls down low but then that opened up the perimeter. They just hit everything. They were by far the best team we've played this season."
Artesia (13-1) opened the game on a 7-0 run before Galena made it 9-6 after Kellie Burton's bucket with 2:52 remaining in the quarter. But that's as close as the Grizzlies would get as the Pioneers extended their lead in every quarter. The 6-2 Burton, who finished with six points, wasn't able to get past Ervin and Cacie Pope, who are both big and physical.
"Kellie is used to girls as tall as her but she hasn't had to play against players that were as physical as they were," Friel said. "They were just more physical down low than what she's used to."
Galena shot only 28 percent field compared with the Pioneers, who shot 40 percent, including a blistering 52 percent (10 of 19) from behind the arc. The Grizzlies also turned the ball over 26 times and as a team, only had three assists. It was just one of those games that didn't go Galena's way from the start.
"We had open looks early but we just didn't knock them down," Friel said. "And once we started missing our shots, that just shattered our confidence."
After three quarters, Artesia had opened up a 60-20 lead. But its biggest lead of the game was 43 after Corie Pope's 3-pointer with 2:27 left in the game made it 68-25. Besides 3-pointers, a lot of the Pioneers points came off second-chance points as they out-rebounded Galena 14-3 on the offensive glass.
"We didn't rebound well at all, especially on the offensive glass," Friel said. "It was just one of those games where you try and take anything positive that you can. We had open shots and we just didn't make them. I don't think it'll hurt our confidence heading into league play."
Ashley Satterwhite and Ginny Williams led Galena with seven points and Joanna Hixon had six. Burton was named to all-tournament team along with Artesia's Ervin and Lindsay Thomas, who had only six points against the Grizzlies.
Galena (12-3) hosts Elko in the opening game of High Desert League play for both teams on Friday in Reno.
