High school girls basketball: Payson picks up road win over Orem

OREM — In the topsy-turvy world that is Region 7 basketball a pair of 2-1 schools took to the court tied for third place in the difficult league.

In the end it was the road team that came into Orem with a hot hand and some great defense and took it to the Tigers from the tip-off. Payson used some great teamwork and incredible play by the Bateman cousins to grab the 55-46 victory over Orem, giving them a 3-1 record and a tie with Mountain View for second place in Region 7. The Lions will travel to Mountain View on Friday night, trying to steal another victory from an Orem-based opponent. Orem dropped to 2-2 and into fourth place in league action.

Cousins Katelyn and Morgan Bateman took turns tearing apart the Orem defense as Morgan drove to the hole, taking advantage of height and athleticism and scoring 21 points on a plethora of layups. Meanwhile Katelyn was letting it rain threes from the outside as she picked up four treys and 14 points in the contest.

"When Katelyn's set, she elevates and no one can defend her shot. She had some major defensive intensity tonight. She really wanted it tonight, and I think her shooting fed off of her defense," said Payson coach Tara Hall, who was also happy with Morgan's play.

"Morgan's big, but sometimes she doesn't get the benefit of the doubt when she's playing inside, but she kept her composure and let it fuel her," said Hall of the foul calls not going Morgan's way.

Both teams were suffering from a little foul trouble at the end as Katelyn picked up her fourth foul with two minutes remaining in the third period, and Brooke Hiatt was called for her fourth midway through the fifth. Orem's Maggie Plothow fouled out on two quick fouls late in the fourth quarter, and the team deflated after that as they found themselves down 51-43 at that time.

Plothow led the Tigers with 15 points, but the Payson defense did a good job of holding down the two Orem stars, Plothow and Angie Helsten, who finished with only six. Neither of those two girls was able to get much going in the game other than a couple of streaks by Plothow in the second and fourth quarters when she picked up most of her points.

Payson jumped ahead early with a 7-0 lead, but Orem was able to climb back into the game and only find itself behind 13-10 at the end of the first, thanks to a last second five foot shot by Mallory Layton on an inbound pass with .5 seconds remaining.

Payson again shot ahead in the second and third quarters and led by 46-35 at the end of three, though Orem went on an eight-point run early in the fourth to cut a 48-35 Payson lead to 48-43. Lauren Chung-Hoon came up big for Orem with some key buckets and eight points, but the Tigers came up short in their comeback attempt.

Ambree Anderson and Layton each finished with six points for Orem, while Lexi Bushman added six points for the Lions.

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