By Don Ketchum

Little by little, step by step, the girls’ basketball team from Phoenix Thunderbird is showing improvement.

Whether the road can take the Lady Chiefs deep into the Division II state tournament remains to be seen. But they are hoping that Friday night’s (Jan. 20) 50-35 over visiting Glendale Cactus is an omen of more good things to come.

When Thunderbird (16-7) played at Cactus on Dec. 2, the Lady Chiefs had a nine-point lead at halftime but wound up on the short end of a 43-41 finish.

This time, Thunderbird had an 11-point halftime advantage, only to see the lead trimmed to three (36-33) with 6:56 to play.

Thunderbird outscored Cactus (18-6) 14-2 the rest of the way.

Freshman Ann Shikles did most of the damage in the fourth quarter for Thunderbird, scoring 10 of her 17 points.

“She is a good shooter. It was a “coming-out party’ for her,’’ said Thunderbird coach Barry Ringel.

Ringel admitted that in the first game against Cactus, “the pressure kind of got to us. This time, we had a lot more confidence in ourselves.’’

Guard Lillian Southwick was a calming influence on defense and with her shooting. She scored 20 points, including three 3-pointers.

Another key factor was the play of Jessica Franco underneath the basket.

Ringel said that in the previous game, Cactus inside player Monique Smith had 10 offensive rebounds.

He didn’t know how many Smith had this time, but it likely didn’t match the previous output.

“Monique Smith is a heck of a player and we told (Franco) to keep her off the boards and she did a great job,’’ Ringel said.

Cactus’ chances of winning were lessened somewhat when guard Katelynn Mullings injured her left ankle in the first half. She was carried off the court and did not return.

Smith and Sydney Mullings each scored 10 points to lead Cactus.