Rams start slow, lose to Tempe

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The Maricopa High School girls basketball team fell behind early and was unable to come back in a 47-33 loss Tuesday night against visiting Tempe.

“It’s possibly the worst game I’ve seen us play all season,” Maricopa coach Jennifer Miller said. “They lost that in the first quarter.”

Tempe scored the first six points of the Class 4A-II East Sky Region match-up and increased its lead to 12-2 with 4:38 left in the opening period. Maricopa pulled within 21-15 on a three-pointer by Paige Provost with 6:12 remaining in the second quarter, but that was as close as the Rams would get.

After leading 26-17 at halftime, the Buffaloes increased their advantage to 35-20 late in the third quarter and to 41-25 midway through the fourth.

The Rams reduced their deficit to 42-33 on a layup by Paige Ellis with 1:18 remaining, but Tempe scored the final five points to win by 14.

“We didn’t get any second-chance baskets, maybe one or two the whole game,” Miller said.

“You can’t win if it’s one and done every time down the court.”

With the loss, Maricopa fell to 10-9 overall, 4-6 in games that count in the AIA power rankings for Class 4A-II, and 2-5 in the 4A-II East Sky Region.

Provost finished with 11 points to lead the Rams, who also got six points and nine rebounds from Morgan Rainey along with six points from Brianna Estrada. Ellis contributed four points and seven rebounds for Maricopa, while Derona Mitchell added four points and five rebounds.

Tempe (3-6 in power-point games, 3-2 in the East Sky Region) was led by Brittney Reed, who finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Brianca White added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Buffaloes, while Breshae Bellamy had nine points and nine rebounds.