Staying in the lead

Fallon’s Lady Wave claimed another decisive Northern 3A win against Dayton Friday, ending their second encounter of the season, 67-18.

The Wave came out strong from the start, quickly taking a 15-point lead. Dayton broke through late in the quarter with Kristina Mason making back-to-back baskets to close the quarter, 30-4.

The Lady Dust Devils began the second quarter by gaining on Fallon while keeping the Wave from another big surge. Dayton was able to score four treys through the Fallon defense but couldn’t halt the Lady Wave’s advance. Both teams made almost the same number of baskets and at halftime, the score was 45-16.

The Lady Wave attacked hard after the break. Their defense swept the Lady Dust Devils, keeping them from scoring en route to a 60-16 score.

The final quarter was almost another sweep as Fallon’s defense held Dayton back. Dayton’s players were reinvigorated too as they fought to keep the Wave from scoring. In the end, Fallon scored a handful of points, and the Lady Dust Devils broke through in the final moments for Kayla Celedon to sink a single basket.

Fallon coach Anne Smith said her team did well. She said they had a good defensive game, making lots of steals and turnovers. She said Fallon had good intensity.

“I was really happy about that in the beginning,” she said.

Smith said the team worked on a few strategies during practice, and the players did well at making them work most of the time.

Offensively, most of the players scored. Lelani Otuafi led the team with 12 points; Kaitlyn Hunter followed with 11 points on three free throws. Faith Cornmesser and Caitlyn Welch each tallied 10 points with Kenna Hamlin scoring eight.

Smith said Welch showed phenomenal defense, making 10 steals. Hamlin had five steals of her own and Hannah Evans tallied five rebounds.

Defensively, Smith said her team needed to work on denying some opportunities. She recalled Dayton has strong three-point shooters and the Wave could have denied their opportunities better.

“You can’t let a team have four three-pointers, I don’t care who they are,” Smith said.

Smith said she has much admiration for the Dayton coach and team. She said it couldn’t have been easy for them to play a team like Fallon.

The Lady Wave played a home game against Sparks yesterday. This weekend they travel to Elko on Friday and Spring Creek, Saturday.