We’ve wanted this since second grade, and we finally got it. – Delta senior Hayley Sorensen
RICHFIELD — Delta’s four seniors huddled together at the edge of the celebrating crowd, each of them gripping a piece of the basketball net that represented years of promises.
Some of those promises were born of friendship and affection, others sprang from heartbreak and disappointment.
“We’ve wanted this since second grade, and we finally got it,” said senior Hayley Sorensen after helping Delta earn its first girls basketball title since 1987 with a 45-37 win over Kanab Saturday night at the Sevier Valley Center.
The dream to win a title may have begun when the girls were in grade school, but it became a mission after they lost in the first round of the 2A playoffs.
“This was so important to us too, when we didn’t think our coach was going to come back this year,” said Sorensen, who led the team with 12 points and four rebounds. “We wanted this so much for him. We wanted to show him that even though we had an upset last year, this was the biggest push we had to come and to win it this year.”
Last year’s first-round exit was painful for many reasons, but maybe most of all because they knew they had the talent to win a title. Even preseason polls put them in the championship game. Instead, they lost to an unranked team on the first day of the tournament.
“I promised myself I would never feel that way in a state tournament again,” said senior Ciara Edwards, who finished with eight points. “And I’m not going to.”
Staying focused — day in and day out — for a year was difficult.
“The goal was on our mind the whole time,” Sorensen said. “But it did start to get away from us, and we started to think we could just show up and we were going to beat teams. Just the fact that when we did lose those region games, it was such a heartbreak that week. We really didn’t know what to do. But it pushed us the furthest to keep going, to play the game that we’ve been taught and to finish at the basket.” The losses didn’t just hurt the players, it changed them.
“The losing, it made us the team we are,” Sorensen said. “And it made us want to win more. We wanted to do this for coach Topham because he’s a state championship coach and he deserves it.”
The Rabbits knew they had to do two things to win — contain Kanab forward Katie Glover in the paint and try to slow guard Shaylee McDonald on the perimeter. While they struggled to slow Glover, who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, Harlee Willoughby’s defense on McDonald held her to six points and 0-of-4 from the 3-point line.
“We just tried to rotate a little bit and stay on one side of her, box her out,” said Delta head coach Kurtis Topham. “She’s a handful. She’s tough. We just did the best we could and hoped for the best.”
Delta led Kanab 26-17 at halftime, but the Cowboys came out on fire in the third quarter and wrestled the lead, as well as the game’s momentum, from the Rabbits. The teams traded baskets with the separation between the two teams hovering around four points.
Midway through the fourth quarter, McDonald dribbled the length of the court and made a layup that put Kanab within two points of the Rabbits.
But just after that there were a series of plays that gave momentum back to Delta for the remainder of the game. Willoughby hit a layup and the foul shot she was awarded to give Delta a 39-34 lead at 4:07.
Then Edwards stole a Kanab pass and hit Sorensen, who knocked down a 3-point shot for a 42-34 lead with 3:28 left in the game.
“I knew it was coming,” Edwards said of the pass. “I saw it. I just anticipated it. I didn’t know if I was going to get it or not, but I just gave it a shot.”
Dani Finlinson hit two critical 3-point shots late in the third quarter that kept Delta just ahead of Kanab. “We just had to play our game, play as hard as we could,” said Finlinson, who also scored a team-high 12 points and earned two steals. “We just had to play Delta basketball and we knew we could get it.”
Kanab head coach Mickey Houston said losing was painful, but he was still proud of the effort offered by his players all season long.
“We ran out of gas,” Houston said. “We had a great third quarter, I thought. We came back, and then just ran out of gas, did silly things that hurt us. But overall, they had a great year and I couldn’t be more proud of them. Delta played a great game.”
Topham grinned and held the trophy above his head as the crowd cheered while his team celebrated behind him.
“It feels pretty good,” he said. “I’ll take it. … Hats off to Kanab. That’s a fantastic team. It was a hard-fought battle by both teams, and we feel fortunate to come out ahead. … I love Delta. I’m happy for the girls. That’s who this is for is them. They played as hard as they could.”
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