Girls basketball: Ben Lomond erases 10-point deficit to beat Roy, improve to 3-0
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- Ben Lomond High’s Kyara Tinajero drives to the basket during a prep girls basketball game against Roy at Ben Lomond High on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
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- Roy High’s Sienna Sanchez shoots a layup during a prep girls basketball game at Ben Lomond High on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
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- Ben Lomond High’s Dory Jenson (5) shoots a layup during a prep girls basketball game against Roy at Ben Lomond High on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
OGDEN — One of the rare times that Ben Lomond girls basketball point guard Kyara Tinajero wasn’t on the floor impacting Friday’s game against Roy was late in the first quarter.
She was substituted out of the game so athletic trainer Jeff Speckman could put Tinajero’s left index ring back in place, which she dislocated when she tried to deflect a pass.
“This part was sticking out, and then this one was bent,” Tinajero said while demonstrating what directions her finger was pointed.
She’s happy it was on her left hand instead of her preferred right. So are the Scots, who dramatically upended the Royals 36-28 on Friday night after trailing 26-16 with 2:35 left in the third quarter and benefited from several key offensive and defensive plays from Tinajero.
With Roy leading 17-16, the Royals went on a quick 9-0 run thanks to a couple inside baskets by Sienna Sanchez — she led Roy with 10 points — and a 3-pointer by Bria Belnap to go ahead 26-16.
Ben Lomond called timeout. Then Dory Jenson put back an offensive rebound and Dawnavin Frye made a jumper to close the lead to 26-20.
Roy led 28-21 after three quarters, which is when things started to turn in Ben Lomond’s favor.
Tinajero, a Fremont transfer, made a 3-pointer early in the fourth, then found Jazlynn Tinajero, her sister, twice for inside baskets to get the game tied 28-28 and force a Roy timeout at the 4:31 mark.
Kyara Tinajero, who had 14 points, made two free throws to put BL up 30-28, the team’s first lead since early in the third quarter. Then she airballed a 3, but it landed in Jazlynn Tinajero’s hands and she made a reverse layup.
Jazlynn, who scored 11, made what was eventually the dagger shot, a 3-pointer with 1:55 left after Sophie Peterson scrambled for, and picked up, a loose ball.
Roy had plenty of chances at the other end to score and missed them all, including at the foul line.
Ben Lomond outscored the Royals 15-0 in the fourth quarter, finished the game on a 20-2 run and have now started a season 3-0 for the first time since 2009-10.
“It’s great, it feels awesome. I mean, we work out butts off and we’ve put in a lot of work. Just to see the reward we’re getting is awesome,” Kyara Tinajero said.
The Scots went 3-19 last year, 2-17 the year before, 2-19 the year before that and 4-17 in 2018-19. The postgame chants of “Three-and-oh,” from the locker room made it easy to tell how the team feels.
“Tonight, they didn’t give up on themselves. They wanted it, at the end of the day they wanted that win. Super proud of them, every single one of them,” BL coach Chelsye Saulsberry said.
On the other side, Roy is 0-3 and appeared to be coasting in the third quarter when it led by 10.
Head coach Carolyn DeHoff praised Ben Lomond for reversing the tide of the game and stressed this season is about the process, so she’s not worried about the results so far.
“Again, I think we did a lot of right things in this game, just give Ben Lomond credit for making more plays down the stretch,” DeHoff said.
After the game, Kyara’s left ring finger was already visibly bruised, but there wasn’t a question that she’d stay in the game.
“She wants to be in there, just taped up and ready to go. It’s probably gonna be black and blue and swollen tomorrow, but we’ve got a couple days until Tuesday,” Saulsberry said.
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.