High school girls basketball: Tigers pounce on Bulldogs early in win

OREM — While the Provo Bulldogs came out flat as a tortilla in the first quarter of their game Thursday night in Orem, the Tigers roared to life and buried Provo in the first eight minutes.

After taking a 13-point lead after one, Orem coasted to a 62-42 victory over Provo and put itself into solid position to take a playoff spot in the 4A state tournament.

Yes, the Region 7 season has just begun, but the Tigers now find themselves riding high at 2-1 in league action, while the Bulldogs have dropped to 0-3 with three straight 20-point losses. In this case, it was Maggie Plothow and Angie Helsten that took the Tigers on their shoulders and carried them to victory.

Plothow started things out in the first quarter with 10 of the team's 19 points, and Helsten took over in the second with nine. Together the girls dropped 42 points on the Bulldogs, matching Provo's entire score for the game.

"We kind of go as Maggie and Angie go. We don't do well if we just stand around. Those two were both good tonight. They both had great games," Orem coach Ross Reed said.

Plothow finished with a game-high 23 points and grabbed several steals along the way, and Helsten dropped in 19 points, including a trio of treys. The two girls were seemingly unstoppable as most every time they took the ball and tried to score, they finished.

But even with Plothow sitting the entire second quarter, the Tigers extended their lead with an 18-12 stanza behind nine points by Helsten.

"We had a little extra gear tonight, and we have two tough games next week, but I hope this game gives us confidence and hopefully we'll continue to get better," Reed said.

Orem started off strong, and it was the Tigers' defense that really put Reed into a good mood as Provo's top player Ashley Kuchar was held to one three-pointer in the entire first half.

She finished with 12 points to lead the Bulldogs, but her shooting was off the whole game, and much of the credit belonged to the stingy and scrappy Orem defense. She was able to drain a pair of threes in the game, and she had some help from smooth Rachiel Asay, who put in 11 points and shot the ball pretty well. Kelsey Nelson added eight to the effort, which improved in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs outscored Orem 14-7, but it wasn't nearly enough.

Up next for Provo is crosstown rival Timpview next week, and Orem must face Payson, also on Tuesday.

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