TAYLORSVILLE — The BYU Cougars are more and more happy to have recruited and won the commitment from Timpview's Alexis Kaufusi, who is busy this year tearing up the state 4A girls basketball tournament.
Kaufusi's monster day almost single-handedly defeated Murray as she led the T-Birds with 32 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots.
"It's not fun just watching," noted Kaufusi about her tournament in 2007, and added, "To be able to play and realize it's happening because of your effort is so much better."
The BYU-bound forward scored two critical blocks and a crucial rebound in the last minute to help the T-Birds hang on by their fingernails in their 42-40 victory in the second round of the tourney.
No. 1-ranked Timpview now sets its sights on yet another matchup with Region 4-rival Springville as the two teams compete for the third time this season. Timpview so far has bragging rights with a pair of regular-season wins over the Red Devils.
Though Timpview led for most of the contest, the Spartans kept things tight and didn't let the T-Birds breathe easy until after the final buzzer sounded. Though Timpview held leads in the first quarter, the Spartans tied things up at 21 near the end of the first half and actually took a 23-21 lead on a jumper by Shay Kennedy just before the buzzer.
From that point on, neither team was able to grab a lead of more than three points as the scrappy play ruled the court.
With things tied up at 39 with about two minutes remaining, Kaufusi gave the T-Birds a two-point advantage on yet another layup, her seventh of the game, and then she proceeded to go down to the other end of the court and block a Murray shot.
Amy White nailed one of two foul shots to bring Murray to within 41-40 with 38 seconds remaining. And after the T-Birds tried to run out the clock, then shot a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining, Gabrielle Pinegar sunk one of two from the free-throw line to give Timpview the eventual 42-40 final margin.
"I was gonna foul, but they went right to the basket, and we couldn't," said Timpview coach Kawika Akina, noting that his team had a foul to give after taking the two-point edge.
Kaufusi did come up with the blocked shot, however, with 6.5 seconds left, but the ball went off of the T-Birds, and Murray got one last chance.
The Spartans missed the 3-point heave at the buzzer, but it was enough to make Akina's heart skip a beat.
"I took a big sigh of relief after that game. We just didn't have it out there. We definitely didn't play very well," he said.
He gave credit to the Spartans, noting that Murray was able to break his team's press and push the ball up the court.
Though he noticed his team was moving the ball well and getting it to Kaufusi, he wasn't impressed with the overall play of most of his team.
Kaufusi finished the contest shooting 14-for-20 from the field, while her teammates shot a sluggish 2-for-20. Both of those goals belonged to Pinegar.
"I didn't really notice how many I had," Kaufusi said of her points, adding that she was surprised so many of her shots fell.
"Kaufusi carried us. She's the only one that was doing it," Akina added, noting that his team did suffer a scare in the second round last year before blazing its way to the title. He's hoping this year will provide similar results.
Pinegar finished with six points for Timpview. White had 13 to lead the Spartans, and Kennedy added eight for Murray.
E-mail: jolsen@desnews.com