Melrose girls defeat Logan

LOGAN - The Melrose girls basketball team turned a 10-point second-half deficit into a 45-37 victory and a Class 1A-6 district tournament title Friday by scoring 22 unanswered points against No. 1-ranked Logan on its home floor.

Melrose (23-4), ranked No. 2 in Class 1A, earned its first victory over its district rival this season after losing its previous three matchups by a total of 16 points. The two might meet each other again in the state tournament.

Shannon May scored eight of her team-leading 17 points in the fourth quarter for Melrose. Nataley Mondragon added 11.

The Lady Longhorns (22-4), ranked atop Class 1A most of the season, went more than 10 minutes without scoring late in the third quarter and most of the fourth. The only thing that kept Logan from a zero points in its fourth-quarter line were 3-pointers by Chesnee Day and Jordan Hines with less than 30 seconds left. Hines led Logan with 11 points, while Karli Webb added 10.

Both coaches agreed the turning point game with 2:09 left in the third quarter, when Melrose coach Caleb King called a time out after Webb scored after an offensive rebound and Kyra Conway swished a 3-pointer to give Logan its biggest lead of the game, 31-21.

"I told them they weren't playing hard enough," King said of the timeout. "'You've got to play like you want to win the game. If you don't play hard enough, it's not going to happen.' We were jogging back on defense and not running on offense."

The Lady Buffaloes closed the gap to two by the end of the period with two free throws by Isabelle Sena and 3-pointers by Mondragon and Johanna Roybal.

May tied it early in the fourth quarter with a shot after an offensive rebound and gave Melrose the lead for good with another bucket moments later. Sena hit a 3-pointer to help fuel the surge. With 1:41 left, the Lady Buffs had turned a double-digit deficit into a double-digit advantage.

"We just picked up our energy, got to running and playing the way we wanted to play," King said of the big rally. "We hit a couple of big threes and played some fantastic defense - that's what we want to hang our hat on. And we had some seniors step up. They stepped up and did what they were supposed to do.

"There was no X's or O's about it. It was all effort."

Meanwhile, Logan couldn't get any shots to fall for more than 10 minutes.

"We couldn't hit a bucket to save our lives," Logan coach Glynna Strand said. "We didn't play very disciplined or poised. They were outhustling and out-toughing us."

What also was impressive about Melrose's scoring run was they did it without senior forward Brette DeVaney, who left the game early with an injury.

"She banged up her knee a little bit," King said. "We were going to use her more but didn't have to because everyone else was playing so well. She'll be OK."

After the game, Strand said she urged her team to regroup

"I told them we weren't done yet and that we have to get refocused and get ready (for the state tournament) in Albuquerque," she said.

Clovis Christian 59, Grady/San Jon 47

Clovis Christian took an early double-digit lead and held it during a 59-47 victory Feb. 24 in the first round of the district tournament.

The Eagles (15-11) led 17-7 after one quarter and 36-23 at intermission.

"Clovis Christian shot really well," Grady/San Jon coach Alicia Rush said. "We didn't play terrible; we just got too far down to pull off the win."

Teryn Foote led Grady/San Jon with 22 points. Makayla Robinson led Clovis Christian with 20 points, while Lola DeGroot added 16.

The Lady Bronchos ended their season with a 6-17 record.

"Obviously the season didn't go like we wanted, but this is a fun group of girls that want to work hard in the offseason to get better," Rush said. "It was a blessing to be their coach this year, and it was a chance for me to get back into the coaching groove."

It also proved to be the end of an era with Grady/San Jon girls basketball. The San Jon Municipal Schools board voted in November to end its sports cooperative agreement with Grady. Grady and San Jon's sports programs will split and go their own ways in the next school year.