The opening round of the 3A State Basketball Championships for the girls’ division began on Saturday, and the Lady Dinos found themselves in Grantsville taking on the Cowboys. This was the first meeting between the two squads all season. As Grantsville opened the first quarter with a lead, Carbon came back to tie things up by halftime, but in the second half, Grantsville took over, closing out the Lady Dinos with a 54-45 victory.
Grantsville jumped out early in the first, turning up their defense and seemingly scoring at will, building a 15-3 lead with just over 2 minutes left in the quarter. It was at that point that Carbon went on a run, starting with a pair of Harley Hope’s free throws and ending with a Kayla Jones three that capped off a 5-0 run to end the 1st, cutting into the Cowboys’ lead 15-10.
Grantsville came out in the second and quickly pushed their lead up to 25-17. With 2:10 left in the quarter, it was at that point that the Dinos would go on another run, this time an 8-0 run, capped off by a Malia Smith baseline layup, which would tie the score at 25-25, as both teams would head into the locker room.
In the third quarter, Grantsville intensified its defense to take the lead over the Lady Dinos. Carbon would, however, put together a small rally as Grantsville would hold a 37-30 lead going into the final eight minutes of the contest.
The fourth quarter was very competitive, as neither team wanted their season to end. Carbon cut the Cowboys’ lead to 47-40, but that was as close as they would get, as Grantsville started to pull away in the waning moments to take the win 54-45.
Elsie Morley led the Lady Dinos with 10 points, four steals, and a trio of assists. Malia Smith added eight with four rebounds, three steals, and a single assist, and Kayla Jones had seven with three rebounds in the loss.
Dinos close out the 2025-2026 season with a 9-15 overall record, going 3-5 in Region 13 play and finishing the year ranked No. 10.
Check back with Castle Country Radio in the coming weeks for a review of the 2025-2026 Lady Dinos basketball season.
You can watch the complete game against Delta by accessing the player below: