In developing a new squad, you have to first establish belief. The Thunder Mountain High School girls team did just that Friday against the visiting West Valley Wolfpack, defending their way to a confidence-building win, their first of the season.<\/p>\n
Thunder Mountain persevered 37-28.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is huge for this team,\u201d TMHS coach Chandler Christensen said. \u201cThem getting to taste this first win is just going to propel them further.\u201d<\/p>\n
The girls held a 28-14 lead heading into the final period. Unaccustomed to being out front by double-digits, Thunder Mountain had to act decisively in the final frame, according to junior Cyrene Uddipa, TMHS\u2019 eldest varsity player.<\/p>\n
\u201cSlowing down the offense, making sure we\u2019re passing the ball around and we\u2019re not in a hurry and keeping our confidence up,\u201d were the keys to closing out the win, Uddipa said.<\/p>\n
[New coach, program reset for TMHS girls<\/a>]<\/p>\n Thunder Mountain enjoyed good production from their three top offensive threats in Uddipa (8 points), Charlee Lewis (11) and Nina Fenumiai (9), but according to Christensen, their team defense brought home the W.<\/p>\n \u201cOur defense won the day for us, hands down,\u201d Christensen said. \u201cI knew that this team had the defensive intensity that I wanted. They had it in them, and I finally got to see it for a full game.\u201d<\/p>\n The Wolfpack were led in defeat by Ellen Silva with 10 and Gillian Winkleman with seven.<\/p>\n After going down 7-8 in the first, Thunder Mountain took the game over in the second and third periods, outscoring West Valley 21-6 to head into fourth with double their opponents point total (28-14).<\/p>\n Seven points from Lewis and five points from Nina Fenumiai in the second and third quarters kept the lead for the Falcons.<\/p>\n Coverage of Thunder Mountain\u2019s Saturday-night game can be found online at juneauempire.com and in Tuesday\u2019s paper. The girls next travel to Sitka for games on Jan. 13 and 14.<\/p>\n FALCONS 37, WOLFPACK 28<\/strong><\/p>\n Thunder Mountain 7 11 10 9 \u201437<\/p>\n West Valley 8 2 4 14 \u201428<\/p>\n Thunder Mountain (37) \u2014 Lewis 11, N. Fenumiai 9, Uddipa 8, Jenkins-Hayes 3, Johnson 2, Hauck 2, T. Fenumiai 2<\/p>\n West Valley (28) \u2014 Silva 10, Winkleman 7, Dick 4, Pendergrass 3, Weckwerth 2, Reid 2<\/p>\n Free throws \u2014 Thunder Mountain 9-21, West Valley 6-15<\/p>\n Team fouls \u2014 Thunder Mountain 14, West Valley 19<\/p>\n Read more local Sports coverage:<\/strong><\/p>\n Falcons boys edge Wolfpack <\/a><\/p>\n