The final game of the 2A girls basketball season will pit a team with huge momentum after knocking out the top seed and a team looking to improve on its second-place finish from last year.
The Rams of South Sevier defeated North Summit in a 45-42 thrill ride Friday night at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield, while Kanab took down Millard 47-36.
“That wasn’t the cleanest game for us, but man we battled and I loved it,” said South Sevier head coach Tracy Johnson. “I told them they gave me a heart attack.
“Last night I felt like we were just about as perfect as we could be,” Johnson said of the Rams’ 40-36 win over top-seeded Beaver. “Tonight it was a little rougher.”
The Rams led throughout most of the game Friday, but with 2:14 left to play, North Summit pulled within one point with Harlyn Richens and Chezlie Langston fueling the surge.
“Their coach is amazing and they are a group of scrappy girls,” Johnson said.
However, South Sevier followed the lead of Aspen Okerlund, who led all players in scoring with 14 points, to resist the rally attempt and cement the win.
“It’s been an interesting ride with this team all year; we’ve been scratching and fighting and trying to put it together,” Johnson said. “The last couple of games we’ve really come far.”
In the other semifinal, Kanab made a statement early in the game as Tyler Nez fired off three consecutive 3-pointers, partnered with two more from teammate Ashlyn Houston, to claim a 17-3 edge early in the second period.
“Tyler’s been setting the tone early with her threes,” said Kanab head coach Clint Glover. “It helps a lot when she hits three 3s in a row.”
The early lead helped keep things rolling for Kanab through the rest of the game.
“Our defense really held things down while we figured the offense out,” Glover said.
He said Kanab couldn’t afford to look over its shoulder, as Millard is a tough team.
“They beat us earlier in the year,” Glover said. “They’re just a really good basketball team. We knew they’d make a run at us sometime.”
For Kanab’s girls, this is the second year in a row they’ve made it to the title game.
“We got here last year and came up short against a really good North Summit team,” Glover said. “We played 11 girls tonight. A big trick is to have your seniors accept that. Our seniors are good enough leaders that they can do that.”
The Rams’ current momentum could be a dangerous thing to overcome in Saturday’s finale.
“If anybody had the bullet, South Sevier does,” Glover said. “They’ve had some really obvious improvements in their basketball.”
The championship is set for Saturday at 5 p.m.