The team with the best record in the state will be first to play Monday afternoon when the girls' 3A state basketball championship tournament begins at 2:30 p.m. at Murray High School.
Tooele, which finished 19-1 and unbeaten in Region 6 play with Thursday's final 61-46 win over Judge, will take on Springville in the first game Monday.There will be four games Monday, with Logan, 18-2 after losing its final regular-season game to Bear River 54-49 on Thursday, taking on Uintah (14-8) at 4:10 p.m. in the second game.
The evening games Monday are Cedar City (13-7) against host Murray (12-8) at 6:30 p.m. and Emery (17-2) - with the state's leading 3A scorer, Marci Stilson, averaging about 23 points a game - playing Box Elder (9-10).
There are four more first-round games Tuesday in the double-elimination tourney.
Opening the second day's play are 17-3 Bear River, unbeaten in Region 5, against defending 3A champion Jordan 10-9 out of Region 6 at 2:30 p.m. The 4:10 game is Bountiful (16-4) against Dixie (8-11). In the evening, it's Carbon (14-5) and Ogden (13-7) at 6:30 and Pine View (10-10) against Woods Cross (9-11).
There are four more games each on Wednesday and Thursday, with first-round winners playing off toward the championship in games at 4:10 and 8:10 p.m. and first-round losers moving toward the consolation finishes of sixth and eighth in games at 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
There are six games on Friday, beginning at 11:50 a.m. with the final scheduled for an 8:50 p.m. start. Saturday there are four more games with the fight for fifth and seventh at 1:30 p.m., the sixth-eighth battle at 3:15, the third-fourth game at 5 p.m. and the state championship game at 7 p.m.
Tooele, unbeaten in Region 6, has three players averaging 14-15 points a game in Shannon Lopez, Karie Johnson and Terri Jacobs. Murray has twin 16-pointers in Julianna Tanner and Amy Cline, and Box Elder's led by Laura Baird, who'll be the No. 2 scorer in the tourney. Logan had Cori Jensen at 16 points a game and Shelly Whitteker at about 15.