The Lady Dragon basketball season has come to a bittersweet end after their 2A District 5 tournament play.  The players, coaches and fans had high hopes for a bid to the state tournament but the team fell just short of going on.  Despite the disappointing end to the season, the Malad girl’s basketball team went out on a high note that leaves both the team and fans excited for the season to come.

         The opening game for the #2 seeded Lady Dragons was held in Malad on Thursday, February 2 as they played against the third seed, West Side Pirates.  After their big win against the Pirates on their home court, West Side had revenge in their sights and would take nothing but a victory.  The passion and aggression fueled the Pirates to play in a way that the Lady Dragons hadn’t seen and weren’t quite prepared for.

         The stands were packed as the Lady Dragons hit the floor Thursday night.  Excited and nervous for the game, Malad began the game a little flat and out of their groove.  It seemed that with every possession they would miss their shots or they would simply turn the ball over.  Despite their best efforts with small bursts of energy and good moments here and there, the Lady Dragons just couldn’t get their game to take off.

         As they moved into the second quarter, things began to pick up on the defensive end of the court.  They were able to more consistently cover the floor, stop the ball and force West Side to rush their shots and turn over the ball.  Offensively they continued to struggle to find good openings to score and in those moments that they could get a shot off, it just wouldn’t didn’t seem to fall.  Malad ended the first half down, 14-25.

         Coming into the third quarter, the Lady Dragons finally settled into their game although the play on the court didn’t quite convert to points on the scoreboard, but it was clear to see that Malad was far from giving up on the game that night.  Two minutes into the game, Hallie Horsley went up for a shot on the block, missing the shot but drawing the foul.  At the free throw line Horsley picked up her first shot and missed the second.  West Side managed to grab the rebound after the long bounce, but Oaklie Hebdon and Kiley Miller were quick to trap the ball.  Together they forced the turnover that Hebdon put back in for two, bringing the score to 20-27.  

         On the next Pirate possession, Riglee Petersen, defending the weak side in their zone defense, slipped down to the block and stole the ball to keep West Side from another scoring opportunity.  The Lady Dragons began to feel the momentum, making big stops with their full court press and using it to their advantage as they turned fast breaks into scoring opportunities.  Emotions were high as both teams upped their intensity, aggression and their physical game on the court.  

With 90 seconds left in the third quarter, Hebdon once again stole the ball near half court as the Pirates attempted to break the full court press.  The West Side defense caught up to Hebdon just two steps from the basket, jumping to defend Hebdon just as she went up to shoot and essentially knocking her to the ground.  The ref failed to call what appeared to have been an obvious foul and the crowd erupted with frustration and annoyance at the omission.  This call felt like just another in a long line of missed calls against Malad for the team and the fans.  With emotions running high, on and off the court, Coach Trevor Jones called for time out, attempting to shout above the crowd and was answered with a technical foul called against him.

Despite being down 20-33 going into the fourth quarter, the Lady Dragons came back to the court with grit and determination that they wouldn’t go down without a fight.  Over the next eight minutes, the team found ways to connect with the basket, slow the West Side offense and take control of the game.  They battled back from their 13 point deficit, coming back to within seven points as the final buzzer rang out, 38-46.  With the fouls wracking up, both teams had several chances to add to their scores from the free throw line.  Hebdon went 4/4 from the line, Izzy Haycock 3/4, Miller 4/6, and both Horsley and Peterson 2/3.  Horsley led the team with crucial rebounds in the game, grabbing five offense and six defensive rebounds with Peterson adding another seven.  Hebdon brought in 14 points to the scoreboard with Miller and Horsley contributing six points each.

The loss scheduled Malad to next play Bear Lake Saturday, February 4 in Malad.  The Lady Dragons managed to take a small lead early in the game over the Bears and managed to keep the lead into the second quarter.  Slowly, Bear Lake began to chip away at the lead to take over as the first half came to an end, Malad down 19-23.

The Bears came out for the third quarter just where they had left off, attacking the basket and finding ways to keep the Lady Dragons from scoring.  Just as it seemed that Bear Lake would run away with the game, Malad had a surge of energy and momentum to finish the game that was palpable for everyone in the gym.

With only one quarter left of their entire 2022/2023 season left to play, the Lady Dragons decided that they truly were going to leave everything they had on the court.  Peterson first stepped up to make some crucial defensive stops that turned into even bigger scoring opportunities for Malad.  Nearly two minutes into the game, they had cut the Bear’s twelve point lead in half and were gunning for more.  Haycock took a quick outside shot that Bear Lake managed to tip to make it fall short of the hoop.  Horsley managed to grab it out of the air and put it up for a quick layup, as if the two had planned such a shot.  

Desperate to keep their lead, Bear Lake began playing much more aggressively which quickly turned into fouls, giving Malad’s players a chance to hit it from the free throw line.  The Lady Dragons took advantage while they could, hitting ten crucial shots over the last quarter to close the gap on the scoreboard.  Peterson brought the score to within four points as grabbed the loose ball inside the Dragon key and quickly put it up for another two points.  With 20 seconds left and after fouling out two Bear Lake players, Malad brought the score up within one shot after Peterson came in for the weak side rebound and put it right back up for two points.  Bear Lake had one final trip to the free throw line, hitting both shots and securing the win, 56-61.

It was a disappointing loss to say the least, but the huge defensive stops, quick steals, and 29 points in the fourth quarter have kept the Lady Dragon basketball fire alive.  Coach Trevor Jones shared, “We have always said you can’t count these girls out until the game is done.  There is NO QUIT in these girls.”  They certainly demonstrated that in both of their district games, playing to the final moment even when the odds were stacked against them.

At the conclusion of the games, Coach Jones had nothing but praise for his team, a team he and his coaches have come to know and love.  “There is a lot we are still working on and needing to learn.  But they have come so far and we are so proud of them.  Each player brought something to the team, especially our seniors that helped lead out on and off the court.”