Lady Thunderbirds advance with victory over Scottsdale
Jonathon Smith
The Lady Thunderbirds began tournament play, at home, with a bang.
Mesa jumped out to a double digit lead early and refused to let up as they walked away with the victory, 56-46.
The team exhibited good ball movement, with three players dishing out four assists a piece.
Prayer Branham led Mesa in scoring, posting 16 points shooting 5-11 from the field and hitting five of six from the line.
The game was a complete team effort with three players scoring in double digits. Callina Hurley and Christina Buescher scored 10 and 13 respectively to round out to the top three scorers for Mesa.
Point Guard, Briana Benjamin only scored 4 points, but her contribution on the boards was critical to the victory. As one of the smallest players on the floor, she led Mesa in rebounding with nine.
Jasmine Petit and Callina Hurley were big on the boards as well grabbing seven apiece.
Mesa was efficient from the line, shooting 80 percent and securing the game down the stretch with clutch shots from the charity stripe.
Both teams were cold from behind the arc. Mesa was 2-11 from deep. Scottsdale took nearly twice as many attempts, but only sunk one more than Mesa and it was a large reason for their defeat.
Katie Tomlinson was a huge presence for the interior of Mesa’s defense. Tomlinson blocked three shots in just 21 minutes of play.
Mesa looks to advance to nationals with a win on March 4th against Pima. They play in Tucson for a trip to the regional championship.
