SANDY — When you play in a region as tough as Region 4, every game is big.
"It's huge," said Alta junior Hayli Shurtz after the Hawks defeated Pleasant Grove 54-47 in the first game of region play for both teams. "We have to play our best every single game because our region is so tough."
Alta head coach Kristi Jensen agreed with Shurtz that the win was significant.
"This is huge, but the next one is just as huge," she said laughing. "It's good to start like this because it proves a point — we can play with the top teams."
The Hawks struggled in the first half against Viking center Jen Hamson, who scored 18 of her eventual 33 points in the first half. Jensen told her team at half-time they'd better figure out to defend her if they wanted to win.
"Those 18 points were pretty much uncontested," Jensen said. "We were supposed to be sandwiching her. I told them, 'You can't just be near her, you have to be ON her.' They did a much better job in the second half. She scored 15 points, but she really worked for those points."
While the defensive effort helped, it was really the team's long-range shot that turned the game in the Hawks' favor.
"Their threes started falling," said Vikings coach Glenn Larson. "We were trading twos for threes and we had a few turnovers. When we didn't go inside (in the third quarter), that's when we got behind."
After Alta earned a 42-40 lead at the end of the third quarter, they opened the fourth quarter with a 3-point shot from Shurtz. That five-point lead swung the momentum permanently in their favor.
"They are learning how to play through things," Jensen said of the come-from behind win. "They're getting smarter in pressure situations."
Jensen doesn't like trailing, but she said it is a good experience for her players to learn to deal with every possible scenario.
"You never love that," she said of being behind. "But it says a lot about who they are and how bad they want it."
Sophomore Makenzie Morrison led the Hawks offensively with 24 points, while Shurtz added 15 points, and senior Becca Beaudoin had 10.
The joy of Tuesday's win will be short-lived, but the players, said they don't mind a tough region.
"It's good to get us ready for state," said Shurtz. "When those tough games come, we'll know what to expect; we'll know how to finish those games."
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