Payette girls lose late lead to Nyssa
Lady Pirates host Weiser today
By Scott Ford
Argus Observer
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 9:51 AM PST
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| Scott Ford | Argus Observer
Payette’s Shelbi King (3) drives the ball down the court following a steal during the Lady Pirates nonconference match up against Nyssa Monday. Nyssa won the game in come-from-behind fashion 46-41. |
Payette — With just over four minutes to play in the contest, the Payette Lady Pirate basketball team led the Nyssa girls 39-36, and looked to be on their way to win No. 3, but the Lady Bulldogs foiled that thought with a 10-2 run to end the game and steal a 46-41 victory from the home team Monday at Payette High School in nonconference action.
Nyssa led by three 11-8, after the first quarter of play, and by the intermission, that lead was cut to one point, 21-20, with a Payette 12-8 run in the second stanza.
Both squads came out in the third quarter launching shots at the rim and produced the best quarter of the game with both teams scoring 14 points, and Nyssa remained on top 35-34 with eight minutes to play.
Payette regrouped early in the final frame and gained the 39-36 lead with just over four minutes to play, but the Lady Bulldogs finished strong for the win.
Payette had two players reach double-digits in scoring with Hailey Schmidt leading the team with 14 points and Shelbi King pitching in with 10 points.
“We have to play good defense until the end of the game,” Payette head coach John Kowatsch said. “Offensively, I thought, for the most part, we took good shots.”
In a game that was played physically, Kowatsch said his team would have to play tough in those kind of games.
“Tuesday, we play Weiser, and they will be a physical team as well,” Kowatsch said.
Senior leader Cass Gross agreed with her coach about the physical play and added the Lady Pirates need to finish games.
“We need to pick up our fourth-quarter play,” Gross said. “We will get it done. We just need to change our mentality.”
Nyssa head coach Danny Pratt said the Lady Pirates played a good game, and he was happy to come away with a win on the road.
For Nyssa, the win marked the third of the season.
“The girls nailed it down, and I was real happy to get the win. It has been a while since we have won a game,” Pratt said.
In fact, the Lady Bulldogs last win came against Payette 46-39, back on Dec. 18.
Payette will be in action at 7:30 p.m. today hosting Weiser in a Snake River Valley Conference match up, while Nyssa will host Baker, also at 7:30 p.m.
