Win gives Lady Trojans nice start to Region 13 play

For the Morgan Lady Trojans, a win to open this Region 13 slate of games was sorely needed. And they got just that, defeating Ogden 52-41 on Jan. 9. 

Victories have not been easy to come by for the defending 3A champions. But a solid outing in which Abby Titus scored 16 points will help. Kaydence Wardell added nine and Eva Birkeland seven. 

Back at home two nights later versus red-hot Grantsville January 11, Morgan [3-11, Region 13 1-1] gave the 2-loss Cowboys all they could handle but lost by the final score of 58-71. 

Trailing by three points, 18-21 after one quarter, the Lady Trojans could never find their footing in the second quarter either as Eva Birkeland [12 points] quickly picked up her third foul. Grantsville’s length and shooting from the perimeter pushed Morgan’s deficit out to seven, 25-32, with 3:49 to play in the first half. 

More foul trouble before halftime put the Trojans in a 12-point hole by the score of 31-43. At the 3:17 mark of the third quarter, however, Morgan was able to get the ball down low and into Brewer more, which helped. But missed free throws kept it at 12 points going into the fourth quarter. 

A foul on Leah Birkeland led to three free throws, which she converted, cutting the lead to nine with 4:47 to play in the game. With Grantsville’s star player saddled by four fouls, the Lady Trojans went right at her. 

A no-call on Grantsville on an apparent turnover led to the visitors getting the ball under Morgan’s basket. Then, a missed layup and a tie-up gave Grantsville the ball back. 

After Grantsville missed a three-point attempt, Coach Sterling Mack’s UNLV-esque run-and-gun hit the floor running, as Leah went coast to coast, jack-knifing her way into traffic for a layup with 4:13 to play. 

After battling all night long, the Lady Trojans had a sliver of daylight. They were only down 53-59 with 4:08 to go in the game. One free throw by Grantsville led to a quick fast break in transition, as Leah again got the contact, scored and no foul was called. 

Trailing by just five at 55-60 with 3:08 to go, the Lady Trojans had hope. But Grantsville’s star player, who had been dealing with foul trouble for most of the evening inside Morgan’s home gym, scored the next five points including a dagger three. 

For Morgan, Eva and Keira Brewer each led the way with 12 points. Leah tied her season-high with 11 points while Ashlyn Noss, eight. Kaydence Wardell pitched in seven points and three steals. λ