Westside went up against the number one and two ranked teams in Class A in Millard West and Millard North. They suffered two losses last week against the top competition in the state.
Westside outscored Millard North in the third and fourth quarter, they lost in a close match up against Millard North 52-48. Where Millard North was able to pull away in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Three days later Westside took on top ranked Millard West where they lost 69-55. The Warriors battled back in the second half, but they weren’t able to keep up with the scoring of Millard West. Assistant coach Karolyn Cahill reflected on what the team needs to work on when facing top ranked opponents.
“A lot of it is knowing how to use in game situations a little better,” said Cahill. “Knowing personnel, who needs to get the shot off, and being more aware of time on the clock.”
Westside struggled to rebound in the first and second quarter which forced them to battle from behind for the majority of the game.
“It’s a lot of little stuff like sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot,” said Cahill. “Turnovers kind of at bad times or giving up offensive boards when we should get a stop.”
Westside is on the cusp of being able to pull out wins over some of the best teams in the state, so the team isn’t going to let these two losses shake their confidence.
Freshman Elise Pederson thinks that these losses will push the team to do even better.
“It motivates me to play teams that are ranked higher than us, I think playing up to your competition level of play makes you a better player,” said Pederson.
Pederson has been extremely efficient off the bench for Westside and leads the team in field goal percentage at 52% and total blocks this season with 19.
Westside has struggled with starting out flat in games and battling from behind. In all the games that they’ve lost, they’ve either tied or lost the first quarter.
“We started the game with less energy than normal and I feel that we had too many turnovers and didn’t execute,” said Pederson.
Westside will need to be more efficient down the stretch if they want to keep their hopes of making it to the state tournament alive.
The Warriors have a chance to redeem themselves this week when they take on #4 Bellevue West on Tuesday and #11 Marian on Thursday.
