BY MICHAEL DAVID

The Wood River Lady Wolverines faced the Pocatello Indians Tuesday night in Hailey in a Great Basin Conference District play-in game. Wood River, who had defeated Pocatello early this season, erased a huge deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime but was unable to regain their momentum in the extra period, ultimately falling to the Indians, 53-45.

The senior-laden Wood River team came out strong in the first quarter of this single-elimination game, and the game see-sawed back and forth for most of the first half of play. The game was tied 12-12 at the end of the first quarter. And, with one minute remaining  before halftime, the Wolverines held a slim 23-22 lead. But Pocatello went on a 7-0 run to close out the half with a 29-23 lead over Wood River.

The Wolverines scored the first bucket of the second half to cut the deficit to four points, but Pocatello went on another 7-0 run to extend their lead to 36-25. The Wolverines were not done, however, as they outscored the visitors 7-3 during the final two minutes of the quarter to get within seven points heading into the final quarter of regulation play.

Wood River opened the fourth with a three-pointer by senior Patrea Topp to close the gap to 39-36. Senior Audra Mary then continued her inside dominance, scoring six straight points down low to put Wood River on top 44-41, giving the Wolverines their first lead of the game since late in the second quarter.

That’s a 14-point turnaround for Wood River in less than eight minutes of play!

Unfortunately, Pocatello was able to fight back in the final 45 seconds and force the overtime period.

The Lady Wolverines (4-9 in conference, 8-14 overall) appeared to have expended all of their emotion and energy in the comeback, as they were unable to crack the scoring lid in the overtime, and their season came to an end with the Pocatello 53-45 victory.

Still, Coach Amanda Crist had only praise for her Wolverine squad, citing the comeback in the fourth quarter as proof of their heart and determination they displayed all season long.