GIRLS HOOPS: Ironwood Ridge holds off CDO 56-53

November 29, 2018 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Bella Hamel (23) and Tianna Carter battle for position. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

Down 10-5 to Canyon del Oro after the first quarter Thursday night, Ironwood Ridge used a 20-4 run to take control of the game, only to have the Dorados come within one shot of sending the game to overtime. A last-second shot by the Dorados glanced off the rim and the Nighthawks held on for a 56-53 win to push their overall record to 5-1 and 1-1 in power-ranking games.

Canyon del Oro (3-3, 1-1) was led by UNLV commit Tianna Carter. Carter led all scorers with 27 points and she also pulled down 15 rebounds. At 6-foot-1, Carter will be playing the small forward position college and most of her points came from outside the lane including three 3-pointers. Carter also hit on all eight free throws she attempted which means she is still a force under the basket and has to be accounted for.

“We have some things we need to improve on and we will work on those things in practice,” Carter said. “My game has expanded and I’ve been working on the point a little and I still need to work on it some more.”

Fellow senior Tessa Falcone added 14 points and junior Viviana Castillo scored seven.

The Nighthawks built a 25-14 lead with 1:23 left in the first half but the Dorados battled back to tie the game up 26-26 with 6:27 left in the third. Falcone hit a 3 to tie the game up 35-35 with 50.1 seconds left in the third but that was the closest the Dorados would get the rest of the night.

The Nighthawks went on another run after Falcone hit her shot and junior Makayla Holthaus hit two free throws to put Ironwood Ridge up 46-36 with 5:45 left in the game. Holthaus scored six of her 10 points in crunch time and she was instrumental in holding off the Dorados, especially Carter as Carter scored ten of her points in the last five minutes alone.

“We’ve had a pretty good start,” Holthaus said. “We’re making progress and we are going to continue to figure things out as a team. For me, I’m working on being more physical and more aggressive.”

Holthaus scored her final bucket with 2:34 left to put the Nighthawks up 50-43 but Carter made a couple of free throws and then Falcone scored to cut the lead down to 50-47 with 1:52 left. Senior standout Caroline Finster fouled out but junior Kyla Ruiz checked in and she hit a huge 3-pointer to give the Nighthawks a 53-47 lead.

Castillo scored four points for the Dorados and Leah Anderson scored three for the Nighthawks to put Ironwood Ridge up 56-51 with 31.2 seconds left but Carter hit two free throws to make it 56-53 with 12 seconds left. A turnover put the Dorados back in business but the Nighthawks held on and avoided overtime.

Keelie George scored 15 to lead Ironwood Ridge and Bella Hamel added 10.

Ironwood Ridge visits Rincon/University (3-2) Friday night and Canyon del Oro travels to Mountain View Marana (2-1) next Tuesday.