Desert Hills Girls Basketball Seniors join From The Bleachers

The Desert Hills Girls Basketball team earned themselves a championship on Wednesday night. Earned may be too simplistic of a word. They fought, battled, persevered through to a championship win in double overtime against the top team in 4A girls basketball, Ridgeline.

The Lady Thunder got off to a great start. A couple of quick baskets put them up 4-0, but the Riverhawks wouldn’t back down so easy. Some great 3 point shooting by Ridgeline extended the lead through the first half making the score 25-15. Desert Hills came out strong in the 3rd quarter holding ridgeline to 8 points and posting 14 points themselves.

In the 4th quarter, Enid Vaifanua led the Thunder with 13 points. Ridgeline, however, would not back down. Both teams kept it close throughout regulation. With the game tied, and only seconds left in the 4th quarter, Ridgeline had control of the ball. Only seconds remaining, the Riverhawks launched a 3 that would win it, if only Julia Jacobsen’s outstretched arm wasn’t in the way. The senior’s block forced overtime.

In the first overtime, the Desert Hills Lady Thunder saw their first hint of light at the end of the tunnel when Ridgeline’s freshman leading scorer, Emilee Skinner, fouled out of the game. But it wasn’t over yet, as the end of the first overtime finished tied again.

In double overtime, the Lady Thunder put the game away from the foul line, 58-55 against a Ridgeline team that went into this game with only one loss on the season (24-1).

The Desert Hills Lady Thunder brought their school their second Girls Basketball win in school history (2014, 3A Tournament).

Listen to what the Champions had to say about the tournament and bringing home the title on our latest episode of From The Bleachers. You can find it on this post and on our podcast page.