Sutter hoopers advance

The Sutter High girls basketball team was on the defensive Tuesday night — which is just the way the Lady Huskies wanted it.

A tenacious defense made up for an inconsistent offense and the Sutter girls held on for dear life in a hard-fought 39-37 win over No. 9 Mount Shasta in their first-round Northern Section Division IV playoff game at the Sutter Gym.

The road to a section championship doesn't get any easier — Sutter must now travel to Corning on Friday at 7 p.m. to take on a 19-4 Cardinals team, the No. 1 seed.

"If we play our very best on Friday, we have a very good chance to win," said Sutter head coach Dustin Ford. "We know the road to a title goes through Corning."

For the Lady Huskies, they may be peaking at the right time. After going 0-5 over the first half of the Butte View League season, Sutter went 4-1 the second time through to earn a No. 8 seed in the tournament.

Throughout Tuesday's game, the Lady Huskies kept fighting and hustling, but more importantly, never letting up on defense. During a stretch in the fourth quarter with a one-point lead, Sutter forced five straight Mount Shasta turnovers.

"Our thing is defense," Ford said. "We have to play good defense. We're a team that won't outshoot you."

From the opening tip, the defenses of both squads took center stage. Sutter mustered just one field goal and four free throws. The Bears countered with three 3-pointers to take a 9-6 lead headed into the second quarter.

"They came out and made their first three 3s so we knew we had to go out and cover their shooters," said Ford. "After the first quarter, we did a better job on them." Mount Shasta only made one more 3-pointer the rest of the game.

Sutter forced 17 turnovers in the first half.

Shalia Gidel came off the bench and immediately drained a pair of jumpers to give the Lady Huskies their first lead of the game at 10-9.

"Kelsey Bradley played her best game all season," said Ford. "She was able to dribble to the middle and that's her game. She got her shot and made some big baskets for us."

Bradley finished with 11 points.

The offense dried up in the third quarter as Mount Shasta came out fast and went on a 10-1 run to take a 24-21 lead. The defense settled down and held Mount Shasta to only one basket over the final four minutes of the quarter.

Jessica Moore put back an offensive rebound for one of only two Sutter baskets in the quarter. The second came with three seconds left to give Sutter their first lead since the start of the third at 28-26.

In the final quarter with the tension mounting, Moore, who dominated the inside with rebound after rebound, made a strong inside move and managed to get a basket with 1:02 left to lift Sutter to a 36-35 lead. Moments later, after a missed Husky foul shot, Moore stole a pass and was fouled. She made one-of-two, but the second missed free throw was grabbed by Monica Meinen. Meinen dished it to Clingan, who was promptly fouled.

She made one-of-two to give the home team a three-point lead with 24 seconds left.

Mount Shasta responded with a basket and then fouled Bradley with seven seconds left. Bradley made the second foul shot for a 39-37 lead.

Moore led all Lady Husky scorers with 13 points to go with 18 rebounds.