TD stages a comeback

McKay at TD, 7 p.m.

FRI., DEC. 9

Prep Wrestling (Day 1)

TD at Muilenburg Inv., 3 p.m.

Prep Boys Basketball

Dufur at Klickitat, 7:30 p.m.

P. Valley at Sherman, 7:30 p.m.

Sisters at TD, 7 p.m.

Prep Girls Basketball

Dufur at Klickitat, 6 p.m.

P. Valley at Sherman, 6 p.m.

TD at Wilsonville, 5:45 p.m.

SAT., DEC. 10

Prep Wrestling (Day 2)

TD at Muilenburg Inv., 8 a.m.

Prep Boys Basketball

P. Valley at Dufur, 5:30 p.m.

NCC at S. Wasco, 5:30 p.m.

Prep Girls Basketball

P. Valley at Dufur, 4 p.m.

NCC at S. Wasco, 4 p.m.

With a two-point setback last Friday to Sandy still hanging over their heads, The Dalles coaches Dan Telles and Craig Compton wanted to see spirited response from their girls’ basketball team Tuesday against the Dallas Dragons.

The Riverhawks used a multi-pronged offensive attack and held Dallas to four fourth-quarter field goals in a 19-11 run to capture a 58-50 comeback win Tuesday in a non-league hoops contest.

“We were licking our wounds from the Sandy loss because we shouldn’t lose to a team like that. We just had to bounce back and we did. We can grow from that,” Compton said.

Senior post Karen Jesch sank a basket to tie the score at 39-all at the end of the third quarter, and then senior point guard Iliana Telles swished a 3-pointer on TD’s first possession of the fourth quarter to give the Hawks a lead they would never relinquish.

Jodi Thomasian, who led TD with 16 points, 10 in the second half, then hit a free throw, Ivorie Taylor had a pair of breakaway layups, Jesch added a short jumper and Telles drilled another deep ball to help lead the Hawks’ fourth-quarter charge.

Dallas jumped out in front with a 12-3 run to start the opening quarter, but The Dalles rallied for a 10-5 run, sparked by four free throws and a basket from Thomasian, to draw her squad to a 17-13 deficit.

TD then outscored Dallas 17-4 in the second period to jump ahead 30-21 at the half.

Falling behind early forced the Riverhawk coaching staff to devise a different defensive philosophy to help slow down the Dragon offense.

Dallas went on an 18-9 third-quarter run and led by as much as three points, but it could not get the baskets to fall in the fourth quarter, as TD expanded on its lead late in action.

“We ended up going to a zone defense, what we hardly ever do, and we stayed in it for three quarters of the game,” Compton said. “They kept chucking threes and missing and we just stayed in that zone and it worked out great for us.”

Katie Senger paced the Dragons with 18 points from her forward positon, and senior guard Stefani Tallon scored 10 points.

Overall, the Riverhawks hit on 18 field goals, five from long distance, and converted 17 of 28 free throws, 6 of 10 in the fourth quarter.

Iliana Telles scored eight of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, Kailin Hoylman hit three 3-pointers for her 10 points, and both Taylor and Jesch wound up with six points each.

“As far as early-season stuff goes, this win gives them a lot of confidence because we were down on the road and we battled back. We hit clutch shots and played well overall,” Compton said. “We had a bunch of people that helped at different times in this game and that is what we are going to need to have with just seven or eight girls playing in the game.”

Just three games into the season, Compton still sees several areas the team needs to polish up, but staging a comeback from an early deficit, in a road game three hours away, could be the just the right remedy this veteran group needs to gather a full head of steam.

“There are no cupcakes anywhere, so you have to treat every game as if it is a playoff game or you can put yourself in a bad situation,” Compton said. “Two things the girls need to improve on are eliminating some of the foolish turnovers and mistakes and the foolish fouls that they are committing right now. We got to get in a groove and gain some momentum as a team and ride it out. Hopefully, this is the beginning of it.”

No. 9-ranked The Dalles (2-1 overall) is scheduled to host McKay (0-2) at 7 p.m. Thursday, and heads to Wilsonville (1-1) for a 5:45 p.m. matchup on Friday.