ANDREW SALMI andrew.salmi@granitemedi-apartners. com
THORNDALE — The Granger High School girls varsity basketball team went on the road Jan. 2 and the Lady Lions rallied to pick up a thrilling 42-40 victory over district foe Thorndale High School.
Down 37-30 in the fourth quarter, Granger locked in on defense and came back with some timely baskets on offense to stun the Lady Bulldogs in their home gym.
“I tell the girls all the time and I try not to give them a big head, but I say we play good enough defense to win every game,” Lady Lions Head Coach Kendall Cotten said. “It’s whether or not we can play better offensively. Offense has been our Achilles’ heel. We play great defense.”
Lady Lions senior Montana Moore, who played through an illness on Tuesday night, went off for a team-high 20 points on two three-pointers made, three steals and two assists against Thorndale.
“I told her in the locker room after the game in front of everybody that she just had the Michael Jordan flu game,” Cotten said.
Granger junior Marissa Hall was a major factor on both offense and defense in the Lady Lions’ gritty victory as scored in double figures with 10 points, five steals, four rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
“We’ve been missing Marissa all year because she’s been hurt and she hasn’t even hit her stride yet,” Cotten said. “When you have somebody that you trust like Marissa who can run the show for you, it just puts a smile on your face.”
The Lady Lions also got a clutch performance from junior Sofia Bernal who had nine points on a trio of three-pointers made with two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Following the pivotal road win, the Lady Lions improved to 2-2 in 2A-District 27 play and will return to action Jan. 9 at 6:15 p.m. as Granger will play host to Bartlett High School.
