Senior Sophia Young has played a key role in the Lady Mustang basketball team’s success this season. The senior is the team’s point guard and has played more of a supportive role as teammates have handled more of the scoring in many of the games this season.
Young played more of a prominent role in last week’s win over Cardinal as she led the team with 20 points, five assists and four steals. While young played a strong game, she wasn’t alone in the effort as Davis County beat Cardinal 74-30 in South Central Conference play on Jan. 20.
Young was one of four Lady Mustangs to finish in double figures on the offensive end of the court. Reese Humphrey finished with 11. Charley Barnhart and Jalee Lough each finished with 10. Senior Kaitlin Olinger finished the night with eight points as the seniors were honored during the evening.
Senior post player Ella Porter hasn’t been making much noise on the offensive end of the court, but her efforts in the paint are still noticed by many as she battles for rebounds and keeps the Lady Mustang scoring efforts alive. She finished the night with 16 total rebounds.
With scoring and rebounding going well, all Davis County needed was a consistent effort on the defensive end of the court to put together a strong win over cardinal. Davis County got that effort out of a Lady Mustang team that has been playing well defensively over the past few games.
Both teams got off to a slow start in this game offensively, but Davis County benefited from additional chances that the defense created. Young, Lough and Barnhart all scored early to put Davis County in the lead from the start.
Davis County led 13-4 at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Defensive stops due to rebounds and steals cut down on the offensive chances Cardinal had in this game. The Comets scored a basket about every two minutes during the early stages of the game and fell behind 18-6 early in the second quarter.
Young got Davis County going early and the lady Mustangs found ways to score against Cardinal on nearly each trip down the court.
The Lady Mustang post players were scoring easily in the paint. Young, Humphrey and others drove into the lane challenging the Cardinal defense and drawing fouls. Led primarily by the play of the seniors, Davis County rolled to a 37-14 lead at the end of the first half.
The second half produced more of the same, mostly because of the defensive pressure put on the Comets by Davis County. The Lady Mustangs scored in bunches while Comet scores came few and far between.
Will, Olinger and Young hit shots early in the third quarter. The girls all scored courtesy of steals or defensive rebounds that put the ball in play. Davis County pushed the ball up the court to score easily. A late scoring run by Davis County pushed its lead to 55-26 with just one quarter left to play.
This was a fun game for Davis County as the intensity on defense transferred over to the offense. Davis County found success shooting the ball, which turned the game into a fun night for all who wore the Maroon and Gold on the court.
Davis County outscored Cardinal 19-4 in the final quarter and cruised to the easy 74-30 win in conference play.
“We shot 40 percent from the floor. I thought we had a great performance from all of our girls. Seniors were able to post some personal bests in a stat at the varsity level,” said Coach Jeff Graves of his team.
“Our trapping pressure was a key in the first half. It took them out of any kind of a pattern or comfort for offense. We rebounded very well, and this allowed us to get some run outs on offense,” he said. “When we pressure the other team, sometimes the results really show up late in the game. The girls work hard in games and practice, so they are in great shape to play that style of ball for 32 minutes. We have a busy week this week and need to have three great games.”
Scoring—Young, 20; Humphrey, 11; Barnhart, 10; Lough, 10; Olinger, 8; Kennedy Skaggs, 6; Jada Will, 4; Laynee Moore, 3 and Ella Porter, 2.
Rebounds—Porter, 16; Skaggs, 6; Moore, 5; Barnhart, 5; Olinger, 3; Lough, 2; Will, 2 and Young, 1.
Assists—Young, 5; Barnhart, 1 and Humphrey, 1.
Steal—Young, 4; Lough, 4; Humphrey, 3; Will, 2; Porter, 2; Moore, 2; Barnhart, 1; Olinger, 1 and Addie McClure, 1.
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