The Copper Basin Lady Cougars came into Friday night’s game looking to repeat as the District 5-A champions as they hosted Sale Creek January 27 at Copper Basin High School.
Copper Basin jumped out to a quick lead and that lead kept climbing all night and in the end, they had gone “back-to-back” as region champions, also earning the right to host a first round game by throttling the Lady Panthers 40-31.
Copper Basin took the early lead as freshman Alexis Hyatt scored four of her team-high 18 points in the first quarter. Two seniors, Sapporiah Ross and Brilee Harris, scored three points each for the Lady Cougars as they built a 10-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Hyatt kept the offense rolling in the second quarter as she scored seven points and Ross scored four more to keep the Lady Panthers in chase mode. Junior Riley Hall drilled a three-pointer and Harris made her fourth free throw of the first half as the Lady Cougars built a 26-15 halftime lead.
The third quarter was more of the same as Basin’s defense held Sale Creek to a paltry three points in the quarter to take control of the game. While the Lady Panthers were having trouble scoring, Hyatt scored seven more points to give Basin a 33-18 lead headed to the fourth quarter.
Copper Basin slammed the door on any ideas the Lady Panthers had of coming back as Harris knocked down a huge three-pointer and Hall added another two-point basket. Freshman Cora Kimsey scored two points down the stretch for the Lady Cougars as they finished off another great season in the district, beating Sale Creek 40-31 to claim another region championship.
Head Coach Jeff Grimes was obviously pleased with his team’s effort, and proud of them for being able to repeat as region champions. “I’m very proud of these young ladies, not just for what they’ve done this season, but where the program has gone these past three seasons. Winning the regular season title is big for us because it’s what we’ve wanted from the start, and because one of our goals was to be able to host the tournament games at what we feel is the best place to be able to play basketball, right at Copper Basin in front of our fans who have supported these girls from the beginning. The best part is I know this team isn’t ready to settle with this accomplishment, as Kobe Bryant once said, “we’re not done yet.”
Scoring Summary:
1 2 3 4 - Final
SCHS 3 12 3 13 - 31
CBHS 10 16 7 7 - 40
Lady Cougars Scoring:
Hyatt 18, Harris 8, Ross 7, R. Hall 5, Kimsey 2.
BY JOHN SPARGO