On Tuesday night, the Lady Dinos basketball team welcomed the Union Cougars to start region play. Carbon worked through its pre-season schedule, and now there are just eight games left until the State Championships. This contest went down to the wire, with the Lady Dinos earning a one-point win, 45-44.

Carbon finished the pre-season with a 6-9 mark and was looking to get back in the win column after taking a loss to Pine View the last time out.

This game was played like a single-elimination playoff game where neither team wanted to lose. The Lady Dinos came out in the first and couldn’t really put much distance between them and the Cougars, as Carbon held a small three-point lead into the second. The teams switched positions in the second quarter, and this time the Cougars did just enough to tie things up 25-25 as they headed to the locker room at halftime.

In the third, the Dinos and Cougars dialed back the offense and turned up the defense, with each team scoring in single digits, and Carbon held a one-point lead going into the fourth. In the final eight minutes, the pressure was on with both teams going back-and-forth when it came to scoring, but with less than a minute left, the Lady Dinos took the lead and never looked back, earning the 45-44 win.

Saren Nelson led the way for the Dinos with 11, adding four steals, two assists, and a rebound. Bailey Johnson scored six with a pair of rebounds and steals, and a trio of Dinos: Emma Bowman, Harley Hopes, and Chrissy Jones each scored five with Hopes collecting five rebounds, Bowman had four assists and three boards, and Jones pulled down three rebounds in the win.

Carbon will now get some time off as they won’t take the court again until Tuesday, January 13, when the North Sanpete Hawks come to Jurassic Park

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.