It could’ve gone either way obviously. It was one of those games we were fortunate to have that at the end and be able to do it. – Juan Diego coach Tim Turpin
LOGAN — Trista Vawdrey looked up and saw six seconds on the clock and knew she had to go.
She thought about spinning to the basket with the 3A championship game tied in the waning seconds, but instead just powered her way to the rim, getting fouled in the process with 2.7 seconds left.
That set up a momentum Vawdrey has foreseen for a long time.
“I’ve had dreams about this happening to me, so I was kind of prepared. I needed to make those free throws, I’ve thought about making those free throws. I make like 20 free throws before the game. I knew I needed to make them. The nerves were there, but I just got through them,” said Vawdrey.
The senior calmly sank both free throws, and Richfield never got a shot off at the other end as the Soaring Eagle claimed their second 3A title in the past three years with a gritty 34-32 victory over Richfield at Utah State.
The victory avenged a 12-point loss to Richfield earlier in the season, part of a four-game slide for Juan Diego in mid-December.
“Earlier we were more one-on-one, we didn’t play as a team much. I thought this game we really played as a team, ran our plays. We just went out and knew this was our game,” said Vawdrey.
Juan Diego didn't shoot particularly well — only 27 percent — but its pressure defense was stifling for Richfield, which committed 15 turnovers compared to just four for Juan Diego.
“If we don’t get turnovers and we don’t get pressure on them, we’re probably like any other team,” said Juan Diego coach Tim Turpin.
Juan Diego finished with 10 steals, and none was bigger than the one Anna Ewoniuk grabbed with 1:54 left in the game. With the game tied at 30-30, Juan Diego had just come up empty after a possession that ticked 2:25 off the clock.
Richfield was fired up after the lengthy defensive stop, but Juan Diego’s Ewoniuk stole the ball right back, quickly passing to Becca Curran as she drove to the lane. Curran sank both free throws to put Juan Diego ahead 32-30, as she led all scorers with 15 points.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Curran banked in a 3-pointer to give Juan Diego the 26-24 lead. It was one of five 3-pointers for Juan Diego as it finished the game 5 of 13 from 3-point range. It was 5 of 24 inside the arc.
After Curran’s two free throws, Richfield patiently ran its offense at the other, with Caitlyn Nabity tying the game at 32-32 on a driving layup with 35 seconds remaining.
During the ensuing timeout, Turpin drew up several options, with the ball ultimately ending up in Vawdrey’s hands, and she made the most of the opportunity.
“It could’ve gone either way obviously. It was one of those games we were fortunate to have that at the end and be able to do it,” said Turpin.
Just like Juan Diego, Richfield did much of its offensive damage from behind the arc. It made 5 of 7 3-pointers in the first half, accounting for nearly all of its points with the game tied 18-18 at the break.
Madisyn Daniels connected on three of the 3-pointers, with Emma Jones adding two of her own.
Richfield didn’t make any 3-pointers in the second half, partly by design as it made a conscious effort to work the ball inside to Shandi Bastian, who scored eight of her team-high 10 points in the second half.
Bastian converted back-to-back layups midway through the third quarter to put Richfield ahead 24-20, its largest lead of the game. With 47 seconds left in the third, Tepora Hannemann halted a four-minute scoring drought for the Soaring Eagle to cut the deficit to 24-23.
Curran opened the fourth quarter with her second 3-pointer of the game, which she said “gave us a lot of momentum and carried us through the game.”