Girls summer basketball program goes 4-1 at tourney

The Lady Tiger Basketball Team had an up and down week this past week during summer play.

During the week the team dropped three games but over the weekend they went 4-1 in the Highland Shoot-out in Pocatello.

In summer league play the Lady Tigers started out against the Knights from Bishop Kelly. The Knights were fired up after losing the Hawk-Dawg-Sader Tournament to the Lady Tigers and came out hot and stayed that way all game, winning 37-27.

Marquina Gilliam led the Tigers with 10 points. Jessica Egusquiza had 7 points, Francesca Hale had 4 points, and Ashley Kipp and Emily Moranda each had 2 points.

Next up was Kuna. In probably their worst game of the week, the Tigers look sloppy and sluggish and fell 37-24.

Sammy Dawson led the team with 8 points. Chantell Crane and Emily Moranda. each had 5 points. Sheena Nelson had 4 points and Jessica Egusquiza rounded out the scoring with 2 points.

Skyview was the next summer league game for the Tigers. Playing well despite being short handed, the Lady Tigers fell to the Hawks 29-23.

Emily Moranda led the team with 8 points. Chantell Crane added 5 points. Jessica Egusquiza threw in 4 points, and Francesca Hale, Sheena Nelson, and Hannah Zamora each chipped in 2 points for the team.

"Although we went 0-3 in summer league play, I wasn't upset over our play this week," said head coach Brian English. "We use summer league as our practices to get ready for tournament play on the weekends.

"The only game I wasn't happy with was the Kuna game. I felt that we were the better team but we didn't show it on the court. We just didn't have the desire or fire to play. Yes, we were short some important players, but you have to play with who you have and you need to show up ready to play every day."

On Friday the team traveled to Pocatello to play in the Highland Shoot-out Tournament.

The team played five games over the weekend, finishing with a 4-1 record.

The first game up was against Pocatello High School. The Lady Tigers started out strong and kept up the pressure on the Indians to win 37-19.

Emily Moranda led the team with 9 points. Jessica Egusquiza had 8 points, Francesca Hale had 6 points, Sammy Dawson, Chantell Crane, and Hannah Zamora each had 4 points, and Marquina, Gilliam had 2 points.

In the second game the Lady Tigers faced the Lady Bobcats of Madison High School. The size of the Bobcats did in the Lady Tigers by a score of 40-21.

Marquina Gilliam led the team with 8 points. Francesca Hale had 5 points. Jessica Egusquiza, Sheena Nelson, Chantell Crane, and Hannah Zamora each scored 2 points for the Tigers.

In the third game on Friday, the Tigers faced Century High School. The Lady Tigers won 28-20.

Chantell Crane led the team with 8 points. Jessica Egusquiza and Marquina Gilliam each had 6 points. Francesca Hale had 4 points, and Sheena Nelson and Emily Moranda each added 2 points to round out the scoring. Although she didn't score Katie Price "really helped the team with her outstanding defensive play," English said.

On Saturday the team opened play against American Falls. The Lady Tigers ran the floor well in coming away with the 40-19 victory.

Marquina Gilliam led the team with 15 points. Sheena Nelson, Chantell Crane and Jessica Egusquiza each had 5 points, Emily Moranda and Shalamar Ennquez each had 4 points, and Francesca Hale finished out the scoring with 2 points.

In their last game of the tournament the girls played their toughest foe, the Knights from Hillcrest. In a game that went down to the last minute the Lady Tigers held on to a 35-31 victory.

Marquina Gilliam led the team with 13 points. Emily Moranda had 6 points. Chantell Crane added 5 points, Sheena Nelson chipped in 4 points, Francesca Hale had 3 points, and Jessica Egusquiza and Shalamar Enriquez rounded out the scoring with 2 points each.

"We played real well over the weekend," said head coach Brian English. "We only had one down game against Madison, but they were a very good team and we just struggled. Again, as I stated earlier, we are learning this summer to play without size and so far we are doing okay. We still need to improve our shooting, especially from the foul line, but that's what summers are for."

The Lady Tigers have three summer league games this week against Ontario, Homedale, and Nampa, then they travel on Friday to Weiser to play in the Jenna Zeller Memorial Tournament. The team plays Caldwell at 3:45 p.m. and Weiser at 6:15 p.m. Games on Friday determine the seeding for Saturday's Tournament.

The team has an 0-3 summer league record and a 9-2 tournament record.