Two of the teams entering the 3A girls state basketball tournament finished region play without a loss, while the other two region champions were upset in their final game of league play.
The classification's No. 1 team, Canyon View, suffered only one loss all season and it was in the championship game of an out-of-state tournament. Whether the Falcons can face the best the other teams in 3A have to offer and remain No. 1 is a question that will be settled in a little more than a week.
The Falcons kick off the 3A tournament by hosting Grantsville tonight. The Cowboys have struggled this season but are better than their 4-5 region record might indicate. Canyon View boasts one of the state's best shooters in Cassie Platt, but have rebounding strength in Brandi King.
Likely the best first-round game is Judge at Carbon, two teams that have been in and out of the rankings this season. The Dinos (7-3) are the defending 3A champions, and while they may have lost the state's MVP to graduation, they showed they're capable of repeating after upsetting region champion Emery on the Spartans' home court in the last game of the season. They also proved they're beatable when they lost on their home court to Juan Diego just a week earlier.
The Bulldogs finished 6-4 and match up well with the Dinos. Both teams play tough defense, but have trouble scoring at times. Judge's Cleresa Roberts has led the team all season with help from Danielle Valdez and Gabby Zaplata.
Region 11 champion Bear River (8-2) lost an overtime thriller to Logan in its last region game, but the Bears have plenty of offensive weapons at their disposal. They face Snow Canyon (4-6) in Friday's opening round.
Juan Diego has both an inside and outside game and has beaten some of the state's best earlier this year, including Morgan. The Soaring Eagle finished the year 6-4, while Wasatch went 7-3 with a great combination of youth and experience.
In the lower bracket, Hurricane (4-6) takes on Logan (8-2), while Delta (5-5) faces second-ranked Morgan (10-0). The Trojans have everything they need to return to the top of the heap in point guard Dani Evans, Cami Johnson, Chelsey Garfield and forward Breanne Haslam.
Third-ranked Emery (9-1) opens the tournament with Union (3-7), while Ogden (6-4) faces Pine View (7-3). The Spartans are led by guard Camille Fehlberg, who picked up the slack when Natalee Hanson injured her knee in the preseason.
2A GIRLS TOURNAMENT: If the Beaver High girls basketball team wants to make it six 2A titles in a row, they're going to have to make believers out of the rest of the state.
After a preseason lineup that had them playing much larger schools and winning just two of those contests, the Beavers lost just one region game. The third region game of the season, the Beavers lost a close game to Parowan, but they were playing without their leading scorer and rebounder, sophomore Morgan Wood.
The Beavers open with Richfield (4-8) at Delta High on Saturday in the first round of the 2A tournament. Juab (5-3) opens with San Juan (7-5).
Millard (3-7) faces third-ranked South Sevier (10-2) in that first round. The Rams were last year's runner-up, while region 12 champion North Sevier finished third last season. The Rams are led by Kascee Jacobs, while the Wolves are led by Valma Cook, Kasta Nielsen and Kayla Nelson.
Kanab (4-5) will face Waterford (6-2), a No. 2 seed that has been in and out of the rankings this year. Manti (6-6) will square off against Parowan (6-4), in what promises to be one of the best opening-round games. The Templars are currently ranked fourth and are capable of pulling off some upsets.
North Sevier (12-0) will play Rowland Hall (0-8), Region 14's fifth seed. North Summit (7-1) will play Gunnison (2-10), and Enterprise (7-3) will take on South Summit (2-6).
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com