NHS girls varsity basketball falls to Mountain View 57-21

Despite the support of a large home crowd that came out Feb. 9 for the Niwot High School varsity girls basketball game, and the team's flashes of moxie and grit, Niwot coach Jon Hill's young varsity squad succumbed to a disciplined Mountain View High School team that jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and never trailed.

The Mountain Lions' balanced attack had three double-digit scorers and used a smothering, pressure defense, challenging the Cougars in the backcourt by posting 20 steals and making four out of 20 attempts from behind the arc.

Unable to get the ball inside to Molly Slupik the way they had in their win last week over Skyline, the Cougars settled for forced, lower percentage outside shots and some kamikaze drives that only occasionally yielded points.

The Cougars' first points came with 4:36 left in the first period, narrowing the score to 7-2 before Mountain View pulled away, running the score up to 13-2. That's when Haddie Adams drained a three-pointer from the corner to make things 13-5 at the end of the first period. Unfortunately the talented Mountain Lions were able to extend their lead again to 24-5 before Tiffany Yie was fouled, sinking one of her two free throws, giving Niwot 6 points.

Steals by both teams before a fast break layup off a steal by Rose Pacheco netted two more points, resulting in a score of 29-8. Another drive by Pacheco on the Cougars' next possession made things 31-10 before a steal and fast break by Yie was derailed when she lost the handle at the other end.

Mountain View capitalized with a 3-pointer and the score was then 34-10. From there, Niwot stalled and the game got away becoming 47-10 before Slupik sank a long 2-pointer.

A little bit later Chloe Mitchell added one of two on a set of free throws following a foul. Other highlights included Ella Zechman's long 2-pointer to make it 55-18 followed by another sweet layup by Pacheco and a Peyton Rhodes swish from the corner. The final score was Mountain View 57, Cougars 21.

Earlier in the week the Cougars hosted Frederick High School, but came out on the short end of a 75-22 score.

The Cougars face Fort Morgan High School next on Tuesday, Feb.14 at 5:30 p.m. at Fort Morgan before closing out the regular season on Thursday at home against Northridge, with a 5:30 p.m. start.