| Michelle Ruden takes a shot over an Ogden defender earlier this year. Ruden sank the game winning layup against Dixie last week as the team posted their eighth straight victory. The Dinos would be handed only their second loss of the year the following night by the Snow Canyon Warriors, thus dropping the Dinos record to 9-2. |
The Lady Dinos basketball team competed in two intense showdowns last week as they traveled south.
The two-day road trip started Thursday as the Dinos faced the Dixie flyers. The game couldn’t have been more even as each team battled for the important preseason victory.
Not more than a few points separated the two teams throughout the contest. The scoring was quite even as the Dinos outscored Dixie, 14-13 in the first quarter and the Flyers out did the Dinos, 17-15 in the second quarter. By the half, only one point separated the two talented squads.
The second half played out much like the first with each team swapping control of the score board.
With only seconds left in the game, the Dinos found themselves trailing the Flyers 59-60.
This is when Carbon senior, Michelle Ruden nailed a layup to push the Dinos ahead for the final score of 61-60.
Once again, the Dinos leading scorer was Chelsey Warburton who posted 31 points against the strong Dixie team. Warburton’s performance was the best in the state for that day of competition.
Warburton was not alone however as several of the Dino athletes scored, assisting in the teams victory.
Sister Morgan Warburton scored 13 against the Flyers as Brittney Pollastro scored eight and Ruden posted four points, including the winning basket.
The Dinos knew that this game would be a tough one because the Flyers entered the game with a 7-0 record. Altough the Carbon girls knew that they were a good team, this may have been their biggest challenge up to date.
That is until they played the Snow Canyon Warriors for the second time this year, the next evening. Two weekends ago, the Dinos competed in the annual Bear River tournament where they found themselves squaring off against the Warriors for the tournament title. That game was highly competetive and the Dinos managed to win it by the final score of 45-42. It was the first loss of the year for Snow Canyon.
The Warriors were out for revenge by the time the Dinos stepped out onto the Snow Canyon home court last Friday afternoon.
Both teams played quite well with defensive skills dominating the game. Only one quarter in the game found either team scoring in double figures. Carbon, who scored 11 in the fourth quarter of the game, was the exception.
The outcome of the game did not play out quite how the Dinos had hoped for as the Warriors defeated them 35-28.
This was the first loss for Carbon since November when the team fell to Ogden in a shocker.
Chelsey Warburton lead the team once again in scoring with 10 points. She was followed by Ruden who scored seven and Halee Rasmussen with five.
The loss drops the Dinos to 9-2 in the preseason. With this kind of record, every team that the Dinos face from now on know that the Carbon girls are the team to beat.
The Dinos are talented and are favored to be a dominant force in the Class 3A division this year, although Snow Canyon obvious thinks differently.
The Dinos will return after the new year to continue preseason competition as they take on Pine View Jan. 3.