EVANSTON — The Lady Red Devils dropped the opening game in the Star Valley Shoot-Out tournament to the Ridgeline Riverhawks, 49-31. Evanston falls to 5-2, while Ridgeline of Millville, Utah, rises to 8-1 on the season. Senior Kori Deru led the Lady Red Devils with 11 points.

Evanston will have played another game, too late for press time, on Thursday, Dec. 27, against the Lady Diggers of Sugar-Salem, Idaho, scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off. The Diggers enter the tourney in Afton with an 8-2 record in the early season.

Evanston will also square off against the 2-5 Lady Bears of Bear River High School from Garland, Utah, at 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 28, and will close out the tournament with a matchup against the Lady Braves of Star Valley who are  a perfect 4-0 entering the tourney they are hosting. Star Valley’s most recent victory was over the McKinley Bradshaw-led Lady Eagles of Lyman, 53-47, on Thursday, Dec. 20, in Lyman.

Senior Ajahonna Archuleta was leading the team in scoring prior to the Star Valley Shoot-Out, averaging nine points per contest. Seniors Natalie Robbins and Deru were contributing 7.8 and 7.7 points per game, respectively, with junior Zocia Nowakowski adding 6.5 points per game. 

Archuleta, a six-foot senior, was also leading the Lady Red Devils in rebounding with 6.8 boards per game. Robbins was next with 5.3 rebounds per game, with Nowakowski  and senior Hanna Sowers each collecting four caroms per outing.

Senior Kaelyn Hiatt was the team’s assists leader with 1.7 per game, followed by Derus with 1.5 dimes per game.

Robbins was leading the team in steals with 3.7 takeaways per game, followed by Hiatt and Deru, each with 2.2.

Look for a story in a future Herald issue.