Every Grantsville player who entered the game against St. Joseph Catholic contributed to the scoring in some way, but it wasn’t enough.
The Grantsville Cowboys girls basketball team fell to the St. Joseph Catholic Lady Jayhawks 33-21. The Lady Jayhawks ended the game on a 15-4 run that propelled them to victory over the Cowboys.
Sophomore guard Whitney Castagno stepped to the line with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter, and she hit one out of two free throws to bring the Cowboys within 18-17. However, that’s when SJC pulled away with its run to end the third quarter and into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Jayhawks led by as many as 14 at 33-19 before freshman center Abby Butler put in a layup late in the fourth quarter for the final points of the game. She was fouled but missed the free throw.
Grantsville had the lead early on at 2-0 when senior forward Jessy Davis scored a bucket. SJC responded with a 6-0 run, which was followed by two buckets from Grantsville. Junior guard Bailey Critchlow dished an assist to sophomore guard Megan Caferelli to make the score 6-4, and Butler grabbed an offensive rebound on her own miss and put it back in to even the score at 6.
SJC responded with a 3-pointer, and Castagno came back down underneath the hoop. She found Critchlow with a pass on the baseline, and Critchlow knocked down a jump shot to make the score 9-8. SJC ended the quarter with another basket to make it 11-8.
SJC scored the first basket of the second quarter, and GHS coach Megan Vera called timeout with 4:38 to go until halftime. SJC came out and scored one more free throw before Grantsville responded with two more baskets before the break. Butler grabbed another offensive rebound and put a layup back in, and junior guard Angel Cloward nailed a jump shot to make the score 14-12 going into halftime.
In the third quarter, Critchlow found freshman forward Riley Ekins for a layup. Ekins then followed that with an assist of her own to sophomore forward Kalli Hammond, making the score 18-16 in favor of SJC. That’s what sparked the eventual run by SJC to close the game.
Butler led Grantsville in scoring with 6 points, followed by Ekins with 4, Davis, Caferelli, Hammond, Critchlow and Cloward each with 2, and Castagno with 1.
Castagno led the team in rebounding with 10 boards, followed by Ekins with eight, Butler with five, Critchlow four, Cloward and Davis with three each, and Caferelli and Hammond with one each.
Grantsville’s next game is at home Thursday against Park City. That game starts at 7 p.m. Park City and Grantsville have equal records at 1-4.