| Morgan Warburton shoots over an Emery defender during a home game for Carbon earlier this year. The Dinos found their way into a state playoff crossover game this past Saturday. The outcome was less than appealing to the Dinos who lost by only one point in overtime. The loss dropped the Dinos from the state finals which will take place later this week. |
After finishing the regular season tied for second place with Emery in the Region 8 standings, the Carbon High girls basketball team moved on to play in a crossover game this past Saturday. The winner of the event would then move on to the double elimination Class 3A state basketball tournament later this week.
With spirits high and energy soaring, the Dinos stepped out onto the hardwood floor to play in the most important game of the season thus far. For the girls from Carbon High, it was all business.
As the Dinos kicked off the competition against the Wasatch Wasps, Carbon found themselves trading point for point against the Wasps. By the end of the opening quarter, Carbon was down by only four.
The Dinos jumped out ahead of the Wasps in the second quarter to take control of the score board by the half, 24-17.
As the second half got under way, each team felt the pressure and was determined to return home with a victory and a ticket to the state finals.
With post season hopes on the line, each team played their hearts out which eventually lead to a tied ball game at the conclusion of four quarters.
Overtime ensued and the Dinos were seconds away from moving on to the finals. That is when the Wasps took a trip to the free-throw line.
With only two seconds left in the overtime period, the two teams found themselves tied.
As Wasatch athlete, Erin Niederhauser approached the line, her only point of the game was made which sent the Wasps to the state finals and the Dinos home without a state playoff birth.
In what turned out to be the final game of the year for the Dinos, Morgan Warburton lead the team in scoring with 27 points. Warburton completed five big three-point shots to add to her extraordinary performance.
Brittney Pollastro and Halee Rasmussen each scored 10 points as Danielle Julian finished the game with nine points.
“It was a hard game for us to lose. Not only did it bring our season to a hault, but it was also hard to believe that we lost this game. After all, we lead the game in every category except for scoring. The few mistakes which we made was what cost us the ball game,” explained Dinos head coach Bruce Bean.
The Dinos coach also explained that the Carbon team did a good job controlling the Wasps’ key players. The Dinos also executed their plays well both on offense and defense.
“The girls played absolutely tenaciously. We got 100 percent from every player on the team. I couldn’t be more pleased with the way these girls played. We may have lost, but we held on tight to the very end,” explained Bean.
At the beginning of the year, the Dinos were the team to beat. After losing senior Chelsey Warburton to injury, the Dinos dropped to a good team in the state rankings.
“This is when we found our footing and started to play strong. This has been an exciting year and a successful one for us this year. Each girl played strong and I can’t be any prouder of this team,” concluded Bean.
With several players returning next year, the Dinos are bound to be the team to beat next season.