Miners 'pick' up win Friday night

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

After a long morning of confinement on school property due to closed roads, the Lady Miners finally breathed open air as they traveled across the state to face Farson-Eden on Friday and Cokeville on Saturday.

In a satisfying 42-24 conference victory against Farson-Eden on Friday night, the Hanna Elk Mountain Medicine Bow girls woke up at halftime. They were sluggish getting off the bus and into the game, coach Jackie Jones said. Going into the half, they were six points ahead. In the last two quarters, they picked up their game to finish 18 points up.

“It was a game where we could move the ball and choose the shots we wanted,” Jones said. It was the team’s first time above 50 percent in free-throw shooting this season. They also had buckets, rebounds and steals from not just one member of the team.

Penny Blauvelt went up for 13 points, five steals and three assists while her teammate Jennifer Korkow sunk 10 points, had five boards and four assists. Amanda Booth bucketed six and pulled down four rebounds and five assists. Kayla Brown led the rebounding pack with six as well as contributing seven points and two steals.

After Friday’s excitement, the girls put on a bad show Saturday against Cokeville, losing 59-27. “They beat us like borrowed mules,” Jones said. “It was our worst game of the year. And I can’t blame it on bus lag.”

Cokeville was clicking on all cylinders with its fast-paced game, Jones said. And her team’s transition defense was sub-par at best. “(The team’s) lack of effort contributed to the loss,” Jones said.

Counteracting the horrific performance as a team were a few individual spotlights. Among the high scoring of Booth, Korkow and Blauvelt was Chelsy Broderick, a sophomore who moved back to the area recently. “She really worked hard defensively,” Jones said. “She’s a firecracker and we needed that on Saturday.”