Signals AZ

Bears Girls Basketball Beats Rival Prescott In Overtime

NAZ Suns Host High School Rivals at Findlay Toyota Center In Prescott Valley, Arizona

In a special game hosted at the Findlay Toyota Center on the Northern Arizona Suns’ court Saturday, February 2nd, the 4A #16-ranked Bradshaw Mountain High School Bears and 4A #26-ranked Prescott High School Badgers varsity girls basketball teams delighted the couple hundred fans in attendance with overtime basketball as the Bears emerged victorious 44-35.

The Bradshaw Mountain High School varsity girls basketball team celebrates a win over rival Prescott High School at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona on Saturday, February 2nd, 2019. (Photo by Torrence Dunham / Signals)

“Why would you expect anything less against your arrival?” asked Bears Head Coach Rick Haltom. “We knew they were going to come and play hard. That’s just what rivals do. You can throw out the records when we play each other.”

“Big win for us,” Haltom continued. “We needed it, a good momentum builder.”

Trailing by two points with less than 15 seconds remaining in the game, Badgers sophomore Hollie Dalton was fouled and drained both her free throws to tie the contest.

The free throws capped the Badgers’ late comeback as Prescott High School trailed by seven points with around three minutes until the final buzzer.

In the meeting before overtime, Haltom stressed clean basketball.

“We didn’t want to foul because we know they’re a good free throw shooting team and we didn’t want to turn the ball over because we didn’t want to give them extra possessions,” Haltom recalled telling his players.

The message was received as the Bears held Prescott to only one point while scoring eight points themselves for the victory.

“It was very nerve-racking as soon as Hollie (Dalton) made that second free throw, we all I think went into a little bit of a panic, but we knew what we needed to do,” Bears senior center Delanie Clark said, who scored ten points and fouled out during overtime.

Even with the defeat, the result was much closer than when the two met earlier this season. On January 8th, at Prescott High School, the Bears defeated the Badgers 56-35.

“We just didn’t execute our game plan last time, so we worked on that a little bit and I thought the girls did a great job executing what we wanted to do,” Badgers Head Coach Bobbi Yoder said after the game. “What we were looking for is to just have a shot at the end of the game. The girls fought hard for it and sent it to overtime and then we just didn’t have an answer.”

The loss drops Prescott High School’s record to 6-11 overall and 4-7 in region play. Meanwhile, Bradshaw Mountain High School improves to 11-6 overall and 9-3 in region action. At the team’s current ranking (#16), Bradshaw Mountain High School would have a spot in a 4A Playoff play-in game with one final contest to play.

Playing at the Findlay Toyota Center

The girls and boys varsity basketball teams for both Prescott High School and Bradshaw Mountain High School had the chance to play at the Findlay Toyota Center on Saturday afternoon as the Northern Arizona Suns, the Phoenix Suns G-League team who plays their home games in the arena, hosted the rival matches.

“It was awesome, I wish we could play here every night,” Haltom said. “it’s a great atmosphere to be on the same court as the NAZ Suns. It’s an honor to be here. Hopefully, we can keep it going every year. The girls were really, really excited.”

Clark mentioned the 5,100 seat arena was a bit of an adjustment at first, but once the game started, she and the team settled in.

“It’s a little intimidating at first, you walk in and there are so many seats and lights and it’s a huge area,” Clark said. “But it was really amazing, it was really cool to be able to play on this court. I would definitely do it again.”

One Final Game Remains for Both In The Regular Season

The Badgers (6-11, 4-7) end their regular season on the road against Mohave on Tuesday, February 5th at 5:30 pm. Meanwhile, the Bears (11-6, 9-3) return to their home court at Bradshaw Mountain High School for senior night on Tuesday, February 5th for a matchup against Desert Edge at 7:00 pm to end the regular season.

Photo Gallery by Torrence Dunham / Signals

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