Owen girls win on the road at West Henderson

One quarter made the difference in the West Henderson girls basketball game against visiting Owen on Dec. 9.

Down by just 3 points at halftime, the Lady Falcons saw Owen expand its lead in the third and couldn’t recover, falling 59-48 to the Warlassies.

Owen's Emma Larios led all scorers with 38 points.

West girls coach Chris Garner said the third quarter ended up being too much to overcome for his team.

“Our girls are still learning the defensive mindset of basketball,” Garner said. “In the third quarter we fell apart; it was a lack of offense and poor defense.”

Four players scoring  in double digits, though, is exactly what Garner said he likes to see and what the Lady Falcons have been working towards.

Emila Cashman led West Henderson with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Kera Putnam had a double double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Bailey Swayngim had 11 points, and Gwyneth Bell finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

After West led 14-13 at the close of the first quarter, things stayed within range even to halftime when Owen went ahead, 31-28.

In the third quarter, the Warlassies went on a 16-7 scoring run mostly thanks to Larios.

The Lady Falcons readjusted and amped up their defense in the final eight minutes with a full-court press, which held Owen (3-3) to 12 points to West’s 13, but the third quarter damage wasn’t overcome.

“We’re doing things much better than last year already. We’ve got a core group of very athletic girls and I’m confident that by midseason we will be competing with everybody,” Garner said.

In the boys game, West Henderson defeated Owen 72-56. Jayden Harper led Owen with 16 points. Ben Bryson led West with 29 points and 10 rebounds.