East Mountain girls basketball team picks up its first win of the season

It has been an uphill climb for East Mountain High School’s girls basketball team, but in their final home game, the Lady Timberwolves picked up their first win of the season.

In an empty gym—because fans are still not allowed inside Bernalillo County’s Vista Grande Community Center—the Lady T’wolves started strong and used solid defense to capture a decisive 40-26 victory over Albuquerque’s Cottonwood Classical Prep on April 27.

“We won!” East Mountain head coach Dan Summers said. “It was fun, I mean, real fun. That’s our first win—the first of many I hope.”

The Lady T’wolves, who had lost eight consecutive games during this Coviddelayed spring campaign—including a 50-14 defeat to Cottonwood on April 19— held the visitors to single digits in every quarter.

East Mountain built an early 11-7 lead and pushed ahead 18-15 by halftime. The Lady T’wolves took control of the game in the third quarter, holding Cottonwood to just four points. “Our defense really got them there,” Summers said.

Cameryn Radosevich and Emily Bennington each hit 3-point shots near the end of the third to help lift the Lady T’wolves to a 28-19 advantage.

“Emily, she played her tail off, she’s a freshman who has really blossomed in the last four games,” Summers said.

“I think we all really played as a team and our defense was so much better than it has been,” Radosovich added. “It was really good, and like, we were all just working together and it just worked out.”

Senior Cassidy Summers, playing in her final home game, finished with 12 points, including hitting seven of eight from the foul line.

“It was a good night for free throws for me for the most part,” Cassidy Summers said, adding, “It was pretty exciting, I’m happy. It’s honestly, like super-relieving and it’s super-nice—i’m glad that I get to share a win with my team.”

“I’m a happy camper,” coach Summers said. “To be honest, the girls deserve it. They’ve been working real hard.”

The Lady T’wolves played April 29 at Cuba, and wrap up the season at Bosque School in Albuquerque on May 1.