Three Forks picks up two conference victories

It was a dominant week for the Three Forks High School girls basketball team.

In the first two games of the 2022 portion of their schedule, the Wolves (4-4, 3-2 5B) were phenomenal on the defensive end of the court, picking up a 39-27 home win over rival Manhattan and a 40-22 road victory Saturday at Townsend.

Following the victory over the Tigers, Head Coach Mike Sauvageau praised the defense's play.

"We spend ¾ of our practices on defense. We figure if we can play defense, we might be able to stay in the game and beat some people," Sauvageau said.

On offense, Sauvageau was pleased with the way his team was able to take time off the clock against the Tigers and said at times last year they struggled to get 30 points per game, and now this season they are pushing 40.

"I'm really happy with the win tonight in what was a really physical game," he said.

Three Forks was led in scoring by Jayden Woodland with 12. Jasmyn Murphy and Ashlyn Swenson had seven, Fallon Page added five, Brianna Warren and Lily Jones finished with three, and Tanaya Hauser finished with two points.

Sauvageau lauded the play of his bench, including the freshman Hauser who also had six in the win over Townsend. He said it is really big for the team to play Hauser at the point which can give Woodland a break.

"She got some good minutes, and we needed it at that point in the game. As the season goes on, that is going to help us out even more. Fallon (Page) also came in and gave us some good minutes. We got some good things out of everybody," Sauvageau said.

Leading 15-10 at halftime Saturday against Townsend, the Wolves came out strong in the third quarter and took a 30-14 lead going into the final quarter of the 18-point victory.

Woodland led the team with 13, Swenson finished with nine, Murphy and Hauser had six, Fallon Page had three, Lily Jones had two, and Addie Pestel added one. Three Forks will be on the road Friday at Manhattan Christian and will host East Helena Saturday.