Poor shooting dooms Desert Oasis in Tark Classic
Desert Oasis’ girls basketball team learned a valuable lesson Thursday.
Shooting in an arena can be quite different from shooting in a high school gym.
The Diamondbacks had a miserable second half and fell to Brea Olinda (California) 47-38 in the quarterfinals of the Tarkanian Classic’s Diamond Division at Orleans Arena.
“We just couldn’t score in the second half,” Desert Oasis coach Laurie Evans-gygax said. “I’m not disappointed because we played tough. We learned a ton from this game, and we’ll get better.”
Desert Oasis made 13 of 54 shots, including 3 of 31 in the second half, as the Diamondbacks struggled to penetrate the Wildcats’ 2-3 zone.
The Diamondbacks (7-1) made 2 of 17 3-pointers, often coming up short on shots as they seemed to struggle with depth perception in the arena.
High school gyms usually are much smaller with walls close behind the baskets, as opposed to the free-standing baskets in a 9,500-seat arena.
“Maybe that did affect our shot a little bit,” Evans-gygax said. “We didn’t make shots. When you don’t make shots, you can’t win basketball games.”
It’s a learning experience for the Diamondbacks, who hope to contend for the Desert Region title and their first trip to a state tournament, which will be at Orleans Arena.
“They’ve never played in a court set up like this,” Evans-gygax said. “So if the goal (of going to state) does happen, they’re more ready for it now. It was great practice for them.”
Desert Oasis trailed 27-26 at halftime but didn’t make another basket until Ahmaya Smith’s second-chance jumper with 4:43 to play. It snapped a streak of 11:46 without a basket and cut Brea Olinda’s lead to 45-31.
Smith and Breanna Clark each scored seven points to lead Desert Oasis.
Casey Fust and Riley Price each scored 10 for Brea Olinda (12-2). The Wildcats shot 7-for-11 in the second half, including five baskets in the paint.