The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WALLA WALLA--The WP Lady Cardinals slipped down to a third-place standing in the Blue Mountain League after a 40-48 loss to the DeSales Fighting Irish last Saturday night.

Early turnovers, cold shooting and some good old-fashioned DeSales home gym offi ciating put the Cards in early foul trouble.

With seven first-quarter Cardinal fouls, head coach Jerry Baker went to his bench early to try and spark some Cardinal offense.

With the constant blowing of the whistle, it was impossible for the Cardinals to find any sort of rhythm to build the momentum to take it to the Irish.

With 27 seconds left in the first quarter, the Cardinals lit the board for the first time with a three-point basket from Krystal Harris.

WP's Kayla Huxoll came off the bench to land the Cardinals their first basket in the second quarter. Kristin Potter followed that up with drawing an Irish foul while shooting. She made her second free throw to tie the game up at six.

It was a seesaw scoring second quarter as the Cardinals outscored the Irish, 15-12, beginning with a Potter layup for two and the Cardinals' first lead.

The Irish answered with a basket of their own while drawing a foul from WP's Ronnie Hulce. They hit their free throw and landed another basket to take the lead back and force a WP timeout with 4:12 left in the half.

Four free throws from the Irish gave the home team a short-lived lead. WP's Hailey Goenen sank a bucket followed by Potter landing her first threepointer of the night.

WP's Chelsey Brannock added two more for the Cardinals, but the Irish answered with a three-pointer of their own to tie the game with 23 seconds remaining in the half.

WP's Harris got her hands on an Irish pass, but couldn't connect with Potter under the basket. The Cardinals ended the half with a turnover and the score tied up at 18.

The Cardinals came out of the locker room lighting up the board with a three-pointer from Potter and two free throws from Dionna Baker.

Potter kept the heat on the Irish grabbing a loose ball and taking the length of the court for two and a 25-20 Cardinal lead.

The Irish answered the Cardinals with a three-pointer of their own and a steal that they laid up for two. Two more trips to the line for the Irish added two more and they took the lead, 27-25.

WP's Katy Hofer went up strong underneath for a Cardinal basket but the Irish quickly answered.

With just less than a minute left in the third, Harris put her magic touch on the ball from behind the three-point line and the Cardinals ended the third quarter up, 30-29.

It was Harris again in the fourth who took a defensive rebound all the way for two while drawing a foul and sinking her free throw. But the Irish nailed back-to-back buckets to tie it up at 33.

It was a battle at the freethrow line as the Cardinals had to say goodbye to both Baker and Hulce as the Cardinal fouls kept adding up.

Potter sparked the floor with yet another three-pointer with just more than a minute left in the game. But three more trips to the line for the Irish added five more points for a 48-40 Irish victory.

Hot-to-trot Potter lead the Cardinals with 15 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.

Baker was also in double digits with 10 points and seven rebounds, and Harris added six points and three steals.

WP vs. DeSales

40-48

WP 3 15 12 10 - 40

DeSa 6 12 11 19 - 48

Potter 15 pts, 8 rebs

Baker 10 pts, 7 rebs

Harris 6 pts, 3 stls

Goenen 3 pts

Hofer 2 pts, 5 rebs

Brannock 2 pts

Huxoll 2 pts