DEMING - The Mount Baker girls' basketball team struggled in the third quarter of its 63-45 loss to Burlington-Edison in a Northwest Conference game Monday, Jan. 14, at Mount Baker High School.

Burlington-Edison outscored the Mountaineers 18-4 in the third quarter and Mount Baker was unable to overcome the large deficit.

Mount Baker improved on its recent trend of starting slow with a 13-12 first quarter lead and was able to hang on to only be down 29-27 at halftime before the offense struggled to score and turned the ball over nine times in the third quarter.

"I was surprised we struggled," Mount Baker coach Brenda Ellis said. "I think we were trying to go too fast. I knew the pressure would be on us after playing them a couple of times this year."

Mount Baker had a total of 30 turnovers in the game, with many of them coming during the transition game for the Mountaineers.

Another struggle for Mount Baker was getting to the basket. Burlington-Edison had the taller and bigger players on the inside and Mount Baker elected to keep the game outside.

This could be seen in Mount Baker's lack of getting to the line for free throw shots until late in the fourth quarter. Mount Baker also struggled to break down the Tiger full-court press.

"It's tough when you have ball handlers that are young and don't have a lot of experience," Ellis said. "It's good for us to get that experience now before the postseason starts. I think we learned some things and gained confidence in that."

Ellis said the youth and inexperience put pressure on the guards and forced them to move and act too quickly and didn't allow them to do what they wanted to do offensively.

Despite the third quarter woes, Mount Baker was able to keep pace with Burlington in the other three quarters.

Mount Baker finished the game scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter and only allowing 16. Mount Baker was only outscored by four points in the first, second and fourth quarters combined.

Emma Lallas led the Mountaineers with 13 points and three steals.

Emily Yost added 12 points, six of them coming in the second quarter.

"I think we hustled and put forth our best effort," Yost said. "We had a lot of turnovers in the second half and we need to do a better job taking care of the ball and boxing out."

Yost played in the post against the stiff Burlington defense but still was able to find room to score.

"I was just focusing on the rim and thinking about what I knew I was capable of doing," Yost said.

Ellis said she thought this was one of Yost's best games of the year because she was able to get offensive production against a great defensive team. Ellis said they have been working on Yost playing in the paint and liked what she saw tonight from her.

"We need to work on handling the ball better with pressure," Ellis said. "We need to learn how to handle that and when it all comes down at districts, we need to make good decisions then."

But first, Mount Baker will have to handle playing at Lynden on Thursday, Jan. 17, in a Northwest Conference game.

BURLINGTON-EDISON 63, MOUNT BAKER 45

BE 12 17 18 16 - 63

MB 13 14 4 14 - 45

Burlington-Edison: Mariah Swanson 22, Tyra Lopez 8, Carly Watson 0, Edie Breckenridge 5, Kim Rabenstein 0, Molly McTaggart 5, Sydney Brown 7, Olivia Capron 0, Ellary Torset 8, Emily Agen 8. Team totals: 25-70 9-15 63

Mount Baker: Emily Brandland 0, Jessa Baisden 7, Taylor Leger 6, Emma Lallas 13, Korrinna Camacho 4, Jordan Fleming 0, Emily Yost 12, Rayedeen Engels 0, Emma Leigh Cline 3, Alyssa Linderman 0. Team totals: 20-55 2-2 45.

3-pointers: Burlington-Edison 4 (Swanson 3), Mount Baker 3 (three players at 1). Rebounds: Burlington-Edison 24 (McTaggert 6), Mount Baker 25 (Leger 9). Assists: Burlington-Edison 5 (two players at 2), Mount Baker 5 (two players at 2). Fouls: Burlington-Edison 10 (none), Mount Baker 11 (none). Turnovers: Burlington-Edison 16, Mount Baker 30.