By Rick Martin, KCWH radio 99.3/101.7 fm

For the Mount Shasta Lady bears, each game lately is like a microcosm of the season: a slow start, a recovery, and a strong finish. The formula worked again on Friday as the Bears dominated Fall River 56-44, sending the Lady Bulldogs to their first Shasta Cascade League loss in seven outings.

“Our defense set the tone again,” said coach Dan Hansen. “Then we hit a few shots, and they started falling. I’m pleased with the way we played tonight.”

Early on, the Lady Bears were in a funk. Passes were not crisp, defensive assignments were missed, shots were passed up. And, Fall River jumped out to quick 14-4 lead. Yarely Contreras pumped in 8 quick points for Fall River, scoring from the perimeter, the paint and the FT line. Teammate Kristi Cearley – who Hansen said was the one player they really needed to shut down – chipped in with 6, and things looked rough for the home team. But the Bears never panicked. Jeana Michels and Kismet Prosper both found the range from 3-point land, cutting the lead to just four points after a quarter, and the Bears were on their way.

Michels stayed hot in the second period, pumping in 5 more points, and Amanda Amesbury got into the scoring flow, adding 5 of her own. The Bears outscored Fall River 16-8 in the period, and 22-8 to end the half to take a four point lead into the locker room.

Just as important as the scoring, was the defense. Michels, Prosper and Taylor Hansen shut Contreras down outside; and Rachel Abbott – in her best defensive game of the season – shut down the middle, blocking shots, pulling down rebounds and forcing Fall River to change their game plan to account for her presence.

“Rachel was awesome tonight,” Hansen said. “She tends to worry about points, but I told her tonight we just needed her to play defense like that. And she took the challenge. It changed the complexion of the game.”

In the second half, The Bears really opened things up, as Prosper, Michaels and Amesbury all hit 3-pointers to extend the lead to 10 in the opening minutes of the third period. Fall River wouldn’t get any closer until the final seconds of the game. The Lady Bears hit 8 3-balls on the night, four by Amesbury and two a piece for Michels and Prosper. Amesbury ended up as the high scorer, with 18. Michels chipped in 17, and Prosper added a dozen to lead the scoring.

Fall River was led by Cearley’s 15 points – with only 2 field goals. Her remaining 11 points all came at the FT line, but she needed 22 attempts to get there. On the night, the Lady Bulldogs were a dismal 15 for 32 from the stripe.

Mount Shasta (10-8, 5-1) avenged a league opening loss to Fall River in McArthur, and moved to within a half-game of the first place Lady Bulldogs in the SCL standings. They travel to Etna and Modoc for games next week.