The Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirates will head into the final game of the regular season Friday as the No. 5 team in Colorado 4A girls’ basketball and the No. 2 team in the Intermountain League (IML).
The 32-team playoff brackets will be seeded Sunday, with regional action taking place March 7 and 8.
The Lady Pirates dropped to No. 5 in the standings after a series of losses to other top teams.
“We had three very tough games in a really small window,” coach Sarah Osborn wrote in an email to The SUN, pointing out the Lady Pirates played three teams who are all in the top five in their respective divisions.
On Friday, Feb. 21, the Lady Pirates welcomed the 2A Sanford Mustangs for a matchup that stretched through three overtime periods.
The Mustangs led 16-15 at the end of the first period after hitting a shot at the buzzer.
The Lady Pirates outscored Sanford 8-7 in the second quarter, which included a Lady Pirate buzzer shot to leave the teams tied at 23 at halftime.
The Lady Pirates bested their visitors 12-9 in the third to hold a 35-32 lead going into the fourth.
The back-and-forth play continued in the fourth, with Sanford scoring 15 to Pagosa’s 12, sending the game into overtime with a score of 47-47.
The close play continued through three overtime periods, with the teams each scoring four points in the first overtime period and three in the second.
The Mustangs edged out the Lady Pirates in the third overtime period to win 58-56.
Elizabeth Currier notched 33 points in the extended matchup, which included seven 3-pointers and eight free throws.
Karsyn Shahan tallied 12 points. Adelyn Hittle notched four points, and Kaila Limebrook and Amber Snarr each scored two.
As a team, the Lady Pirates made 17 of 26 free-throw attempts.
Shahan led her team in rebounds in the game with 13, 12 of which were defensive. Currier logged seven rebounds, Kylie Ketchum pulled down five, Hittle had four and Limebrook had two.
The Lady Pirates picked up 14 steals and turned the ball over 21 times.
Sanford is now 19-2 and the No. 2 team in the 2A standings.
The following day, the Lady Pirates traveled to La Jara to take on the Centauri Falcons.
Unfortunately for the Lady Pirates, they were outscored by their hosts in every quarter — 13-10, 9-6, 11-8 and 14-12 — to leave the Lady Pirate with a 47-36 loss.
Ketchum led the Lady Pirates in scoring in the matchup with 12 points. Shahan notched nine points, which included a pair of 3-pointers. Currier and Limebrook tallied five points each, which included a 3-pointer by Currier. Hittle scored three and Lexi Campbell put up two.
The team landed seven of 10 attempts from the free-throw line.
Hittle led in rebounding on the day with six, followed by Shahan’s five. Limebrook pulled down four, Ketchum tallied three, Campbell contributed two and Currier had one.
The Lady Pirates stole the ball 14 times and turned the ball over 31 times.
The Falcons are now 19-3 on the season and the No. 3 team in the 3A standings, as well as sitting atop the IML with a 10-1 league record.
On Tuesday, the team traveled to Alamosa to make up the Feb. 14 game that was postponed due to inclement weather.
The Mean Moose jumped out to a 9-5 lead by the end of the first quarter and held an 18-15 lead at halftime.
The Mean Moose outscored Pagosa 10-9 in the third to hold a 28-24 lead heading into the game’s final quarter, where they bested the Lady Pirates 10-6 to log a 38-30 win.
Six Lady Pirates contributed points on the night. Currier garnered 14 points in the game, which included a trio of 3-pointers. Snarr picked up five points, including a 3-pointer. Campbell and Shahan each added four points, with Shahan landing one 3-pointer. Ketchum put up two points, and Limebrook added one.
The team made five of eight free-throw attempts.
Currier and Ketchum each pulled down five rebounds, with Shahan having four. Campbell and Limebrook tallied three each, and Charity Domingo had two rebounds.
The team logged nine steals and turned the ball over 12 times.
“We played hard and we were in each game until the final minute,” Osborn wrote. “It’s tough to come out of a weekend of games with three losses this late in the season, but we will learn from these losses and it will only better prepare us for playoffs. Our team is focused and ready to take on post season, it has set a new fire underneath us and we will be ready to go next week.”
The Lady Pirates will close out the regular season at home against the Bayfield Wolverines on Saturday, March 1.
The Wolverines are 6-15 on the season and 0-10 in IML action, with the Lady Pirates previously defeating the Wolverines 51-20 on Jan. 31.
The Lady Pirates are now 15-7 on the season and 9-2 in IML play.
Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
randi@pagosasun.com
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