High school girls basketball: West passes early test against Timpview

It wasn’t pretty at times, but the West Panthers showed some flashes as they cruised to a 60-42 win over Timpview, handing the Thunderbirds their first loss of the season. It was an early test for both teams as West and Timpview were voted as region favorites in their respective regions.

“We just know how good of a team they’ll be,” said Solovi. “This isn’t an indication of what thier season is. We expect those guys to go super, but I’m definitely proud of our girls. Going into this game for us it was, ‘how are we going to look against a really good team?’ We’re really proud of these guys, we got a long way to go, but I’m proud of them.”

Things started solid for West as it focused on getting downhill and scoring in the paint. Meanwhile, Timpview struggled with West’s defense and couldn’t capitalize at the free throw line and fell behind 17-10 fast.

The Thunderbirds were quick to recover, and capitalized on West’s sloppy play. Timpview’s Lina Ballin getting started was the catalyst, scoring six quick points in the second quarter to help bring Timpview within 26-23 at halftime.

Halftime was the last time West allowed the game to stay competitive, as it exploded for a 47-29 lead after the third quarter. The quick turnaround was in large part to the Panthers’ defense, who only allowed six points in the entire quarter.

Meanwhile, 2024 5A All-State First Team member Kylee Falatea got to the line and finished in the paint for the offense. Falatea led West with 19 points, eight of which were scored in the third quarter.

“After the second quarter all our heads were down,” Falatea said. “We were playing like we were losing. Our coaches talked us up, our teammates hyped us up and it really got us going in the third quarter. They told us ‘We shouldn’t be playing like we’re losing. We should be playing like we’re winning and have that championship mentality.’”

West contained Timpview for most of the fourth quarter, but the Panthers fell back a bit to its sloppy play. Ballin added 10 points and two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter before the clock ran out. Ballin led all scorers with 22 points.

Still, West comfortably pulled out the 60-42 win to go 2-0 on the season.

“I kind of felt it was a little bit sloppy,” Solovi said. “We got sloppy at times and we know there’s some really good teams out there. (Timpview) is a really good team and it could have gone either way at certain moments. But I’m definitely proud of the way they’re communicating and the way they’re getting better.”

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