Lady Indians rout SC in second half

By MARTIN HARRIS - Sports Editor
Saturday December 19, 2007

ELKO - The Elko girls basketball team owes another thank you to Taylor Altenburg.

The senior, who has signed with New Mexico State, bailed out the Tribe with a 29-point performance as her team beat rival Spring Creek 55-37 Tuesday at Centennial Gym.

The final score, however, does not indicate how close the game was in the first half. The Lady Spartans (3-6) held strong and trailed by only eight at intermission. The slim lead irritated Elko coach Karen Hoem.

“We just never went on a strong run like we needed too,” Hoem said. “We need to shut the door.”

Elko was the first team on the scoreboard thanks to a layup by Sara Inman on an assist from Lorena Torres. The Tribe went up 4-1 a few plays later as Altenburg stole the ball, went coast-to-coast and at the last second, she faked a pass to shake a defender as she went up for layup.

Altenburg scored 20 of her team's 32 first-half points and credited her teammates for getting her involved.

“All of us were blending well on the court and we were working really well off each other,” Altenburg said. “I was just seeing what was there. If I had a shot, I took it. If I didn't, I looked to pass it.”
Hoem praised the play of her standout senior.

“I think in the back of my mind you hope Taylor, who has already signed and knows where she's going, doesn't take her senior year off and she hasn't done that at all,” Hoem said. “She's done the opposite. She's actually taken it up a notch.”

Altenburg has scored 20 or more five times in Elko's (5-3) eight games. With her 29 points Tuesday, she passed Kathryn Symmes (1,463 points) for fourth place on the Tribe's all-time scoring list. The senior has 1,485 points.

Hoem said she wants Altenburg's teammates to step up more in the scoring column. For the second time in four games, she was the only player to reach double-figures.

“I still feel like we're not executing an offense and when that happens, Taylor carries the load,” Hoem said. “Our offensive rebounding was horrendous.”

Spring Creek's Meg Harasymczuk, right, tries to break the break the press defense of Elko's Taylor Altenburg (20) and Sara Inman (12) during Tuesday's game at Centennial Gym. (Martin Harris/Elko Daily Free Press)