The Carbon Lady Dinos started the 2020 calendar year with a dominating 65-37 win over the No. 8 ranked South Summit Wildcats Thursday night in Kamas.

Led by Makenna Blanc’s game-high 15 points, the Lady Dinos improved to 9-4 on the season and strengthened their hold on the No. 5 ranking in the RPI. The loss drops South Summit to 7-7.

Carrying a one-point lead into the second quarter, Carbon’s defense kept South Summit from scoring double-figures in the next two periods. Up 14 entering the final stanza the Lady Dinos finished strong with a 22-11 run.

Senior Abbie Saccomanno continued her consistent offensive stretch with 14 points. Diana Morley finished with 11 points and Cora Lamborn ended with 10.

Thursday’s road tilt marked the last game of the non-region season for Carbon. Faced with heavy competition throughout, only one of the team’s four losses came against 3A competition. Two were against higher classifications, while another was out of state in Colorado.

“Our region in my opinion is the toughest in 3A,” said head coach Ted Bianco. “I think our pre-season schedule was full of tough opponents. Hopefully that helps us understand the position that we are going to be in every night with region play.”

Five of the six teams in Region 12 are currently ranked inside the top seven of the latest RPI rankings. The first region opponent for Carbon will be South Sevier, who is currently No. 2 with a perfect 12-0 record, on Tuesday night at home.

“They’ve kind of had our number the last couple of years, so we’ve got to do something about that,” said Bianco. “That’s a team that has made it very difficult for us to score. We’ve got to put pressure on them and try to take their best players out of what they want to do. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Following Tuesday’s game the Lady Dinos will travel on the road for the first of two meetings with the defending 3A State Champion Emery Spartans. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m..