Young and willing, The Community School girls' varsity basketball team got off to a slow start and then played a tough Dietrich Blue Devils squad evenly for the final three periods Friday in a Northside Conference league game at The Fish Tank in Sun Valley.
Reigning Northside champ and last year's state third-place finisher Dietrich (3-0, 1-0 league) jumped out to an 11-0 first-quarter lead and held off the determined Cutthroats (0-1, 0-1) by a final score of 42-31. The teams played to a 31-31 tie over the final three periods.
"We have a fairly inexperienced team who didn't seem intimidated at all by a very talented Dietrich team," said first-year Community School head coach Erika Connelly. She was impressed by her team's 14-point second quarter revival.
She added, "We got our first-game jitters out and, after that first quarter, we went after every loose ball and were aggressive. Our defense was strong and we got a lot of points off of fast break steals. Everyone got a chance to play and, for six of them, this was their first-ever varsity game. So we were really proud of them."
Dietrich, led by Moriah Dill's 16 points, had won its first two road games 63-47 at Raft River and 68-26 at Castleford. Cutthroat sophomore guard Ella Marks led her team with 12 points and 5 steals. Senior Julia Doan had 8 points.
Other Cutthroat scorers were Natalie Goddard 5 points, Chloe Chrysikopoulos 2, Taylor Figge 2 and Chelsea Cloud 2.
The Cutthroats resume Tuesday, Nov. 30 at home against Lighthouse Christian.