Key 2nd quarter run lifts Lady Reds over Carbon

3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News

CEDAR CITY — Good free throw shooting and a stingy defense helped Cedar HIgh put together a 12-0 run in the second quarter that gave the Lady Reds the lead for good in a 43-29 win over Carbon Thursday night in the 3A state quarterfinals at SUU’s Centrum Arena.

cedar-smcarbon-smA four-point play by Lisa Ballenger didn’t hurt, either.

Ballenger, a junior guard for the 14-10 Lady Reds, lined up a trey with her team ahead 13-9 and 3:20 left in the second quarter. As she released the high-arching shot, she was pounded by a Carbon defender and hit the deck hard.

“I never saw it go in. I was on the floor,” Ballenger said. “I’ve never had a four-point play before.”

Lisa Ballenger-3A State Playoffs, Cedar City,  Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie,  St. George News
Lisa Ballenger-3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News

Cedar actually had trailed 7-6 beginning the second quarter and the game was tied at 9-9 with less than a minute gone from the period. That’s when the Lady Reds got hot.

“We just needed to settle down, get comfortable with the setting,” Cedar coach John Elison said. “We felt like our defensive intensity was there. Javlyn Weaver played a great game. We had her for eight rebounds and she played a great defensive game.”

The 12-0 run put Cedar up 21-9 late in the first half. Carbon got a three-point play by Jordan Scoggins with under two minutes to go to cut it to 21-12 at intermission.

The Lady Dinos fought back and got the deficit to within five a couple of times in the second half, but never any closer.

Weaver finished with a team-high 13 points and hit a 3-pointer in both the second and third quarters. Ballenger had 10 points as did Courtney Morley.

All three players made free throws in the fourth quarter to keep the Dinos at bay.

Cedar now plays Region 9 nemesis Desert Hills in the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon at the Centrum. The winner will play for the state title Saturday at 5 p.m.

3A State Tournament Girls Bracket

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Videocast by Bryce Griffin, and Amber Green, St. George News

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.

3A State Playoffs, Cedar City,  Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie,  St. George News
3A State Playoffs, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News

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