On a night when the state was hit with a major winter storm, inside Charger Arena, it was summertime.
Summer Larson time, that is.
The Corner Canyon senior scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half to help preserve her final season at least one game longer, as the Chargers knocked off Region 4 foe Pleasant Grove Tuesday night 63-49.
“We turned great defense into easy offense,” said Corner Canyon coach Craig Morris. “We went from down three to up 16. I don’t know what more you want as a coach.”
With just one quarter of play left in what had been a nip and tuck type game all night, Corner Canyon found itself with a slim four-point lead. Determined to defend their home court and extend their season, the Chargers opened the final frame on a 13-0 run to take control.
The Vikings’ first points of the fourth quarter came with just 3:38 remaining.
During the stretch, it was Larson’s playmaking ability that set the tone for the rest of the team. Larson opened the quarter drilling a 3-pointer from the right side to give the hosts a seven-point lead.
Minutes later, the Charger senior was fouled on a 3-pointer, nailing two of three from the charity stripe.
“She didn’t want to go home,” said Morris. “She was patient offensively and she ran all the sets just the way she is supposed to.”
And while Larson continued leading her team on offense, the Charger defense also stood tall to the task, forcing multiple turnovers and missed shots to create the separation to win the game.
Camaraderie is clearly not lacking with this Charger team, evidenced by the five Charger seniors gathering together after the win to take pictures with each other.
“We love each other so much,” said Larson, surrounded by her teammates. “We’ve grown so much.”
Having just lost to Pleasant Grove in the regular season finale, there seemed to be some extra motivation on the Corner Canyon side.
The Chargers jumped out to an early 10-4 lead to start the game, with a lot of the offense going through junior Elina Mortensen.
As the first quarter buzzer sounded, Mortensen had nearly outscored the entire Pleasant Grove team. Her 10 first quarter points helped the Chargers to a 17-13 advantage.
The Vikings used a suffocating defense and full-court press in the second quarter to slowly close the gap, eventually walking into the locker room at halftime with a three-point advantage.
“At this point, just play for each other,” said Larson to her teammates during the break. “I feel like we had more heart in the second half.”
The two region rivals traded runs in the third quarter before the Chargers used their dominant fourth quarter to pull away.
With the victory, Corner Canyon’s reward is another region foe. This time, however, the Chargers will go on the road, as they take on the No. 1 seed Lone Peak Knights.
“I hope we can get some human element in the RPI. Lone Peak and Pleasant Grove were the last two teams that we played in region,” said Morris. “If Westlake wins, four teams from our region will all play each other in the first, second and third rounds.”
Region 4 play has certainly been a gauntlet, and in order for the Chargers to live to see another day, they will have to take down the champs from Alpine.
“Every team is beatable. Every team can have an off night,” said Larson. “If we just go into it with that same mentality, we’ll just leave everything on the court.”