Girls basketball: Sky View upends Skyline

On Nov. 27, I attended the Skyline-Sky View girls basketball game. I'm doing yearbooks for both teams, so this seemed like an obvious game to cover. I wrote separate articles for each yearbook. Here is the article that will appear in the Sky View girls basketball yearbook.

Bobcats survive early-season test

 

Evans, Goldman, Jensen
provide offensive spark
in tough win at Skyline

By Bruce Smith

Matchup

                 The Sky View Bobcats have made it to the state tournament the last 10 years. They did it by challenging themselves with difficult non-region games.

                Tuesday night, the Bobcats came to Skyline. After a rugged first half, the Bobcats rode the play of Danee Evans, Tara Goldman and Lindsey Jensen and edged the Eagles 65-54 in a game between perennial 4A powers.
                “We finally got our offense going,” said Sky View coach Kimber Hall. “We got some easy shots off steals and made our free throws.”
                That may have been true, but it wasn’t that easy. This game was much closer than the 11-point margin.
                Skyline, playing its first game of the season under new coach Lynette Schroeder, led much of the game and even bolted to a nine-point margin early in the second half. The Eagles showed a new attitude and a deep (11 player) lineup that Schroeder said would be part of the team’s personality all season.
                “The kids will have to prove themselves in practice every day,” Schroeder said. “We’re a young team and a work in progress.”
                Skyline showed a lot of potential. In the end, though, Sky View’s defense forced too many (20) turnovers. Many were by Evans, who Hall jokingly referred as “one of the slowest players on the team.”
                “I don’t know how she does it, but she’s always in the action,” Hall said. “Our opponents always have to know where she is.”
                There were basically three turning points:

                * - The first came late in the first half. Skyline held a 23-18 lead and had the ball, but attempted a three-point shot with 20 seconds left instead of holding on to the ball until the end. Kendra Falslev then came downcourt and nailed a trey for the Bobcats to make it a two-point margin (23-21) at half.

                * - The second was Sky View’s free-throw shooting. The Bobcats missed their first six from the line and were 4-14 at halftime. They made 16-24 after that. Jensen did the most damage. She made 13-16 shots herself and spent much of the fourth quarter adding to Sky View’s lead.
                * - Finally, there was the point where Sky View made its move. The Bobcats put themselves in good position with a nice third-quarter rally. The score was 36-36 entering the final period.
                Goldman then created a lot of momentum with a free throw and a pair of baskets to bump the margin to 41-36.  The Bobcats never lost it.

                 “Tara did a great job and it was good that we already had one game under our belts,” said Hall. “We knew it was their first game. We tried to pressure them and rattle them a little bit.”

                It sometimes worked, but Mia Mortensen gave Skyline some life after being fouled on a perimeter shot and making all three free throws. Still, the Bobcats survived and Goldman’s trey with just over a minute left made the score 59-51 and both teams could sense the eventual outcome.
                “We ran our offense really well. We moved the ball and cut into open spots,” recalled Schroeder. “We had some costly turnovers and didn’t hustle back on defense. Sky View did a good job maintaining the lead.
                “It’s good to measure ourselves against them,” she added. “They’re always a good team and we need games like this to challenge ourselves.”
                Evans led Sky View with 18 points. Jensen followed with 17 and Goldman 16. Sydnee Taylor topped Skyline with 12, Hillary Weixler added nine and Mortensen and Sara Weixler eight.