The Lady Wave went 2-1 during their tournament in Roseville, Calif., last week, claiming a number of tournament honors for Fallon students.
The team won its games against California’s Ridegeview, 53-49, and Roseview, 59-47, but lost against Pleasant Valley, 64-49. Faith Cornmesser was named to the all-tournament team and Caitlyn Welch to the all-defensive team; Kaitlyn Hunter also received the tournament’s hustle award.
On Thursday, the Lady Wave played Pleasant Valley. Fallon coach Anne Smith noted Pleasant Valley was the No. 1 team going into the tournament. She said she was very pleased with her team’s performance, though, and felt the girls played well.
Smith said it was a very close, back-and-forth game where the Lady Wave took the lead several times. At the end of the first half, Fallon was only down by three.
“By the fourth quarter, they (Pleasant Valley) started outscoring us,” she said.
Cornmesser led the team in points with 11. Smith said she and Welch “did a solid job” in the game. The coach was also proud of her team for reducing their turnovers; she said they had been working on this and were getting better.
“Even though we lost, it was a great game against a very good team,” Smith said. “It was four quarters of good, good basketball.”
In Friday’s Ridgeview game, the Lady Wave claimed their first win. Smith said this was another close game where Fallon trailed in the first and fourth quarters before leaping ahead to take victory.
“We didn’t really win the game until the fourth quarter,” she said.
The teams stayed close for most of the game. Ridgeview pulled ahead at times, but the Lady Wave was always within reach and never let them get a lead.
Smith said Leta Otuafi was on fire, scoring 14 points. Leilani Otuafi and Cornmesser were also strong players with 9 points each.
Leilani Otuafi continued her great weekend by leading the team in Saturday’s game against Roseville. She scored 26 points, five of which came from 3-pointers with 83 percent of her free throws going in.
“She was on fire, just did a fantastic job,” Smith said.
Welch and Leta Otuafi each scored 11 points and Smith said Cornmesser “continued to dominate the board.” Leilani and Welch had great offense and defense against the host team.
The game did get close near the end, but the girls were able to recover and make the push for a win.
“We kinda cooled in the third quarter, and the fourth we really came alive,” Smith said. “It really clicked for us in the fourth quarter.”
Overall, she said it was a great tournament for the girls and their growth. She said it was three days of great basketball and it would not have been the same against different teams. Smith said the tournament did a good job of preparing them for the upcoming league games.
The team went to Fernley yesterday, and have a home game against South Tahoe Friday. During practices, Smith said the girls have been working on controlling turnovers while under pressure and having a more fluid offense.
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