The Montana true freshman is the daughter of Tali Ena, who earned MVP honors at running back for Washington State before being drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 1980. His NFL career was cut short by a knee injury, but his legacy lives on in Sarah, who made a big first impression in Wednesday's Maroon- Silver scrimmage at Dahlberg Arena.
The post/forward racked up 15 points and a game-high three steals to lead the Lady Griz Silver team. It wasn't enough to prevent the Maroon squad from winning, 54-51, but Ena's 6-for-8 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench seemed more significant than the final score.
“I've been happy with the other freshmen, too. We had a scrimmage earlier where (power forward) Dvera (Tolbert) had a big game. But what we're going to get out of those freshmen each night we're not quite sure right now.”
Ena, a native of Kenmore, Wash., said she's been looking forward to playing in a Lady Griz uniform for a long time. She spent hours looking through the Montana media guide and following the team online as a high school senior.
At 5-foot-11, Ena doesn't look like someone who can do a lot of damage in the paint. But she uses her explosiveness, strength and soft shooting touch to her advantage.
“For the most part I've always been the tallest, so they always put me in the paint,” said the former high school class president. “I run track and I like to use my quickness, especially since I'm not the tallest now.”
Ena's scoring output was matched by Maroon floor leader Lauren Beck, a guard/forward. The Great Falls product may be one of the most improved players on the team after averaging under two points per game as a freshman.
“Shooting was something I felt I needed to do more of during the summer,” said Beck, who went 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-6 from the line. “I improved a little bit, I guess.
“I'm not as nervous this season. You know what's going to happen. You know how to run the plays so you go out and do it.”
Laura Cote and Tamara Guardipee each scored 10 points to join Beck in double figures for the Maroon team. For the Silver team, Ena was joined in double figures by Mandy Morales with 13 points and Sonya Rogers with 10.
Neither team shot particularly well. Maroon was 20-for-57 from the floor and Silver 21-for-60.
“That's probably to be expected, but there were some good things,” Selvig said. “It was probably typical of the first scrimmage. You feel like you're not executing very well.
“I have a hard time in scrimmages anyway because I want to be playing good ‘D,' and if they are executing well you're probably not going to do so. I've got some kids not feeling well, so you don't have a lot of substitutions in these things. Usually they end up real sloppy before you're done, but I think we're in good shape conditioning-wise.”
MAROON (54) - Closson 2-9 0-0 4, Cote 4-11 2-2 10, Stender 2-10 0-0 5, Lohman 2-13 3-4 8, Beck 5-5 3-6 15, Linford 1-4 0-0 2, Guardipee 4-6 2-2 10. Totals 20-57 10-14 54.
SILVER (50) - Morales 5-14 1-2 13, Rogers 5-15 0-0 10, Conway 1-6 0-0 2, Snead 1-5 2-2 4, Robison 3-5 0-0 6, Ena 6-8 3-5 15, Tolbert 0-4 1-2 1, Atkinson 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 21-60 7-11 51
Halftime score: Maroon 26, Silver 22. 3-point goals: Maroon 4-16 (Closson 0-1, Cote 0-4, Stender 1-6, Lohman 1-4, Beck 2-2). Silver 2-17 (Morales 2-9, Rogers 0-5, Conway 0-2, Atkinson 0-1). Rebounds: Maroon 44 (Lohman 9), Silver 36 (Rogers 6). Assists: Maroon 14 (Closson 4), Silver 15 (Morales 4, Atkinson 4). Turnovers: Maroon 16. (Linford 5), Silver 9 (Morales 2, Ena 2).
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