OGDEN -- Thursday's match-up between the Ogden Tigers and the Judge Memorial Bulldogs felt more like a round of shooting practice for Judge guard Erica Martinez than a basketball game.
Martinez scored 26 points, including eight 3-pointers on the way to what can only be described as a 72-23 decimation of their hosting opponents.
"When I get into a rhythm it makes things a lot easier," the senior guard said.
If that's true, then the Judge Memorial Lady Bulldogs made the New York Philharmonic's percussion section look like a bunch of amateurs on Thursday night.
"I really thought we competed well," Judge Memorial coach Jeremy Chatterton said. "We can shoot the ball, there's no doubt about that, but we need to be able to create those shots and I thought our defense and rebounding did a really good job."
Judge's defense was tenacious from the beginning, holding the Tigers to just 8 first-half points. Aggressive man coverage and double-teams choked passing lanes and created numerous mistakes and turnovers for the Tigers.
Ogden's defense configuration also played tough in the paint, making it difficult for the Bulldogs to get the ball inside.
It didn't make a difference.
Judge exploited Ogden's 1-3-1 defensive set with crisp, accurate passing around the perimeter until they found an open shot -- many of which were from behind the 3-point line as the Bulldogs tallied 13 goals from beyond the arc throughout the evening.
The one bright light in an otherwise cloudy affair for the Tigers was junior guard Kia Wilson, who contributed six points off the bench including a 3-point shot of her own in the fourth.
She also contributed three rebounds in a game where the Tigers had trouble on the boards and brought much needed enthusiasm to an Ogden team that was visibly -- and understandably -- frustrated.
Coach Phil Russell's squad saw its overall record fall to 2-2.
* CHRISTIAN HERITAGE 65, WASATCH ACADEMY 34: At Mount Pleasant, the Crusaders flexed their muscles in a 31-point road win.
Candace Fairman scored 28 points to go along with 10 rebounds, Mercedes Brown added 17 points, and Carerra Brown and Brittney Hurlbut each contributed seven rebounds.
Christian Heritage, now 5-2 on the season, led 36-12 at halftime.
In other games, Morgan ran past Mountain Crest 60-48 to improve to 4-0, and Juan Diego topped Bountiful 48-31.
Boys basketball
* SYRACUSE 60, GRANGER 53: At Syrcause, the Titans evened their record at 2-2 with a solid home win.
A.J. Wilcox and Wade Rasmussen paced Syracuse in scoring, while point guard Jaxon Reid led the team in rebounds with nine. The Titans led by 17 late before clearing the benches.
"The preseason was way too short," "Syracuse coach Justin Nelson said. "I'm not sure we're ready for region (on Tuesday), but we're all in the same boat."
* BRIGHTON 61, NORTHRIDGE 45: At Layton, the Knights ran into another hot-shooting squad and fell to 0-5.
"Their shots fell and ours didn't," Northridge coach Bryan Veazie said. "We played them really well. I think we made some great progress."
Corbin Miller paced Brighton with 23 points.
Chad Colby scored 13, Jordan Galbraith added 12 and Isaac Hernandez chipped in with nine points.
"If anything, we're battle tested after playing five very good team," Veazie said. "We're ready for region play."
In another boys game, Christian Heritage fell to 0-2 with an 84-28 loss to Wasatch Academy.




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