The lopsided game was top-ranked Richfield’s 13th consecutive win, and the winless Lady Devils’ 14th straight loss of the season.
Grand started off slowly, scoring just four points in the first quarter, a 2-point basket by Tericita Tsosie and another by guard Torrie Lopez.
The Lady Wildcats then went on a scoring run, putting the next 39 points in a row on the board and holding the Lady Devils scoreless throughout the second and third periods. At that point, Richfield’s coach put the team’s junior varsity squad in the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The Lady Wildcats made a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to push their already sizable lead to 57-4, but Grand sophomore Alena Geiser then drilled a 3-pointer of her own on the next possession, and Lopez hit two more shots on successive trips down the floor, including a 3-pointer. That 8-0 run by the Lady Devils ended up giving them more points than they’d scored at Richfield earlier in the month, when they lost to the Wildcats by the score of 53-10.
“Our team has shown a lot of growth since the last Richfield game,” said GCHS assistant coach Sarah Thomas. “We are competing well against teams with girls our age. Playing against older, more experienced teams has served as a great learning experience for our players.”
Lopez’s seven points led the Lady Devils, while Richfield was led by junior Megan Bean’s 16 points.
This week, the Lady Devils are scheduled to play at Pinnacle Academy in Helper on Tuesday, Jan. 31, followed by a home game on Saturday afternoon against the South Sevier Rams. The game time of that contest has been moved up to 4:30 p.m. instead of 6 p.m., and the junior varsity game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.