The Carbon Lady Dinos extended their basketball season with a dominating 68-37 win over the Manti Templars in the consolation bracket of the 3A State Championship Tournament Friday morning at Salt Lake Community College.
Wasting no time establishing a sizable lead, the Lady Dinos opened the game up on a 15-2 run. That advantage continued to grow as Carbon would outscore Manti in each of the next three quarters.
“It’s always hard to come off of a loss in a tournament like this and play well the next day,” said head coach Ted Bianco. “I was so proud of what the girls did today. They came out with focus and a little bit of fire. They took the lead early and never looked back.”
After struggling from the field in Thursday’s loss to Richfield, Carbon shot an outstanding 56-percent from the field in Friday’s win. Defensively the Lady Dinos disrupted Manti as they converted just 14-of-49 attempts from the field and 4-of-18 from deep.
Senior Cora Lamborn dominated throughout as she finished with 20 points on 8-11 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three steals. Abbie Saccomanno also reached double-figures as she scored 15 points and pulled down a game high six rebounds.
Jordan Bianco helped push the Carbon offense with 13 points, while Diana Morley ended with 10. A total of seven players scored at least two points as the Lady Dinos extended their season.
Brook Barson was the only Manti player to pass the 10 point plateau as she ended with 14 points on 11 shots. Manti struggled to take care of the basketball as they committed 26 turnovers in the game.
Friday’s win means the Lady Dinos will advance to the final day of the 3A State Tournament as they play in the 5th and 6th place game against Morgan on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m.. Morgan defeated San Juan 58-43 Friday afternoon to advance.
“We just need to show up and do our job tomorrow,” said coach Bianco. “The girls are trying to finish the season strong and they’ve had a great year. I’m extremely proud of them.”
Saturday’s contest will air live on KRPX 95.3 The Peak. Coverage will begin at 9:45, followed by tip-off shortly after.