The Paton-Churdan Rockets hosted the Boyer Valley Bulldogs for Saturday hoops and claimed a 73-55 win in the girls game to split the series. The Bulldogs won the December match-up in Dunlap 66-61.
The Bulldogs scored the first 12 points of the game, but the Rockets battled back to bring themselves to within one point at the end of the quarter, 18-17, and to a tie at 30 at halftime.
The Rockets dominated the second half, according to coach Chris Peterson, outscoring Boyer Valley 43-25. “We did a fantastic job of attacking the basket and getting to the foul line. We hit 29 of 38 free throws, which was definitely the difference in the game. We did a good job of attaching the basket and forcing them to shoot from the perimeter. It was another great effort for the second straight night for the girls,” the coach said.
Senior Carleigh Paup scored 27 points and was eight of nine (88 percent) at the free throw line, ahead of her season average at the line of 73.3 percent. Paup led the team in steals with six.
Freshman Jenna Beyers had her best game of the season. Beyers averages 5.7 points per game but scored 18 against the Bulldogs. She shot at 100 percent from the free throw line for 14 of her points. She has shot at 59.2 percent at the line for the season. Beyers also grabbed 11 rebounds, four more than her season average.
Senior Kasey Lane scored nine points, sophomore Grace Geisler scored seven, and the Rockets got four points each from freshman Megan Carey and seniors Sydney Koch and Reilly Niles. Koch led in assists with seven and she was credited with two blocks.
The Rockets are 11-7 on the season while the Bulldogs are 9-8.
The Rockets lost the boys game 64-59. Statistics were not provided.
