The 4A girls basketball state quarterfinals got underway at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum at Utah State in Logan on Thursday, with the higher seeds winning each game, No. 1 Ridgeline, No. 2 Sky View, No. 3 Snow Canyon and No. 4 Green Canyon.
Ridgeline 64, Desert Hills 36
Winning playoff games is never easy, even when you’re 22-0 and your average margin of victory is 29 points. Top seed Ridgeline was reminded of that in the 4A quarterfinals at Utah State on Thursday.
Sure, the Riverhawks pulled away and beat No. 8 seed Desert Hills comfortably 64-36, but it had to grind in the first half which was much closer than most probably expected.
“I watched a few games here today and playoff games a little bit different, you win and go home. You like to think everybody plays as hard as they can all season right, but it’s just that little extra when you’re in the state championships, you know you have to give it your all cause it’s everything or nothing,” said Ridgeline coach Ainsli Jenks.
Desert Hills executed at both ends of the floor about as good as could’ve been expected in the first half and only trailed 30-23 at the break.
Coming out of halftime Ridgeline sped up the game offensively and locked things down defensively as it quickly pulled away to keep its undefeated season in tact.
Emilee Skinner had another outstanding game for Ridgeline, leading all scorers with 27 points to go along with her seven rebounds and six steals. Elise Livingston chipped in with 18 more.
The win was a small sliver of redemption for Ridgeline, which lost to Desert Hills in last year’s 4A state championship game in St. George.
All five Ridgeline starters from last season are back this year, while Desert Hills returns just one starter.
Regardless of the different personnel for the Thunder, it was a game Jenks said her players were eager for once the brackets were set.
“It was actually a year ago today that we lost in the state championship game last year, and my girls remember that, and when they saw that we were playing Desert Hills they were excited. They know and we know Ron (Denos) is a great coach, I have a lot of respect for him and his program and we knew it was going to be a battling coming in cayuse everybody plays their best. My girls were excited,” said Jenks.
Ridgeline finished the game shooting 49% from the field while holding Desert Hills to just 34% shooting and forcing 23 turnovers.
With the win, Ridgeline advances to Friday’s 4A semifinals and will face the winner of the Dixie-Green Canyon quarterfinal at 2:30 p.m.
Jenks said regardless of the opponent, she’s confident her team will bring the right mentality once again.
“We always talk about whose game it is, we always want to make that extra pass, we want to play good team basketball, share the ball. The more people you can get involved offensively the harder you are to guard,” said Jenks.
Sky View 60, Mountain Crest 56
Hannah Radford put on a show in Thursday night’s 4A quarterfinals.
The Sky View senior made 11-of-15 shots, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range, and made all eight of her free throws in a dominant 36-point performance in leading her team to the 60-56 victory over Mountain Crest at Utah State.
The 36 points was a new career high, eclipsing her previous best of 27 points.
“I was saying it’s nice because it’s always different shooting on rims we’ve never shot on and being in a new place, and for her to get comfortable and to shoot that well is awesome, she’s one that she’s in the gym, she’s putting up shots and she’s preparing for this moment,” said Sky View coach Vanessa Hall, whose team is in the 4A semifinals for the third-straight season.
Next up for No. 2 seed Sky View is a semifinal showdown at 4:10 p.m. on Friday against No. 3 seed Snow Canyon.
Radford is a three-year starter for Sky View, including during the Bobcats’ state title run in 2021, and all that experience played a role her performance on Thursday.
“It definitely helps to have experience, it helps slow things down, even under pressure we’re able to stay calm and make plays,” said Radford.
She scored 14 straight points during one stretch of the second quarter, and then with the game on the line in the fourth quarter she scored 14 points again as Sky View held off a scrappy effort from the Mustangs.
Radford didn’t score in the third quarter as Mountain Crest geared its defense even more toward shutting her down, with Faith Newman shadowing her nearly every time up the fourth.
In the fourth, Sky View’s coaches had Radford bring the ball up the floor a few times to help her get back into the rhythm.
“Hannah’s the type of kid she’s going to find a way, she’s going to dig in and fight and find a way,” said Hall.
During region pay this season Sky View beat Mountain Crest by two in the first meeting and then 20 in the second meeting. Hall said she was hoping for the latter, but knew that would be tough.
“I was hoping for a 20 game, but Mountain Crest is well coached and I knew they were going to be tough. It’s tough to play a team three times, you know everything about them,” said Hall.
At halftime it looked as if Sky View was marching toward another 20-point win up 30-22, but the Mustangs had plenty of fight left in them.
While holding Radford scoreless at the defensive end, Mountain Crest went to work offensively rallying to tie it 39-39 heading into the fourth.
With a more concerted effort to get Radford involved, Sky View regained the lead early and Radford helped extend it to 51-44 with back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the quarter.
Mountain Crest made one final push to make it a one score game, but Karlee Allen helped seal it for Sky View with a clutch steal with 24 seconds remaining.
“She is scrappy, she is so quick it’s fun to coach a player like that,”
Snow Canyon 52, Bear River 47
Snow Canyon’s girls basketball team ran the tables on a perfect Region 10 season and was never really tested, so trailing at the half in Friday’s 4A quarterfinals and then again in the fourth quarter was certainly unfamiliar territory.
Despite the tense moments, the Warriors stayed aggressive and ultimately made the winning plays down the stretch to pull away from Bear River for the 52-47 victory at Utah State.
With the win, No. 3 seed Snow Canyon advances to Friday’s semifinals and will face the Sky View-Mountain Crest winner at 4:10 p.m.
“We have to patient if we really want to win, and that’s what we did,” said Snow Canyon sophomore Olivia Hamlin, who scored 23 points to reach 1,000 for her career.
In many ways, the tense moments for Snow Canyon started the night before when Hamlin used a cleanser to wash the mascara off her eyes. Shortly after she had an allergic reaction and her parents took her to the ER to get her an IV to help with the swelling after her eyes essentially swelled shut.
Hamlin was in the ER until one in the morning, and said she didn’t really sleep after she got back to the hotel either as she just laid in bed restless. The swelling eventually went down and by tip off she was her usual effective self with 23 points, four rebounds and four assists to spearhead the win.
The biggest moment for Snow Canyon came at the 1:06 mark with the game tied 45-45. Hamlin attacked the paint and then kicked the ball out to Kelly Howard who buried the corner 3-pointer for the 48-45 lead.
It was the second 3-pointer of the game for Howard who finished with 15 points.
“Kelly Howard’s 3 in the corner was huge as it gave us the lead which we never gave up and it was all because Olivia attacked and kicked to a shooter,” said Snow Canyon coach Roden.
Trailing 20-18 at the half, Snow Canyon shot 59% in the third quarter to regain the 39-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter. They stretched it to as many as eight at one point, but led by Gracie Riley the Bears fought back and tied the game at 40-40 and then even took a 45-44 lead on a Aubree Fry 3-pointer with 3:33 remaining in the game.
“Bear River, you’ve got to give them credit, they fought and never gave up. Their coach has turned that thing around. Gracie Riley we couldn’t stop her for a while,” said Roden.
Riley finished the game with 22 point and nine rebounds to lead the Bears.
After Fry’s 3-pointer though, Snow Canyon’s defense kept the Bears off the scoreboard until the final seconds as they booked their ticket to the semifinals.
“I was proud of them that after we gave it back up, they kept attacking, and that’s something we talked about at half,” said Roden.
Green Canyon 57, Dixie 41
The stars of 4A girls basketball were on full display during the quarterfinals at Utah State on Thursday, and Green Canyon senior Maren McKenna joined them in the nightcap.
On a day when Snow Canyon’s Olivia Hamlin scored 23, Sky View’s Hannah Radford went off for a career-high 36 and Ridgeline’s Emilee Skinner scored 27, McKenna had a big game of her own scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds as No. 4 seed Green Canyon beat No. 5 seed Dixie 57-41 to advance to the semifinals.
In the win, Wyoming commit McKenna went over 1,000 career points on the same night Hamlin hit 1,000 career points as well.
“She goes out and she battles every single night. You know she’s going to try for every board, you know she’s going to push the ball and look for her teammates and score. She played great tonight, and her teammates did, too, they did a great job of helping her get her shots,” said Green Canyon coach Alexis Clegg.
Green Canyon trailed 12-8 after the first quarter, but dominated the second quarter 23-9 to build a double-digit halftime advantage it continued to build on in the second half.
The Wolves controlled the hustle plays in the first half with a 14-4 edge in offensive rebounds and a 10-2 edge in forced turnovers, which allowed it to take 26 more field goal attempts in the first half.
“When we play tough defense it really does create opportunities, we had more fast breaks, we had better transition points, but our defense was kind of lackadaisical I thought in the first quarter and kind of let them have what they wanted, but we got out and ran, and I think that’s a very big strength of ours to run the floor,” said Clegg.
Next up for Green Canyon is a semifinal showdown on Friday at 2:30 p.m. against top seed and undefeated Ridgeline.
The Wolves to Ridgeline twice this year, once by six points and the second meeting by 35 points, and Clegg will obviously be hoping for an effort similar to the first meeting. Green Canyon lost to Ridgeline 53-41 in last year’s 4A semifinals in St. George.
“A little deja vu. They’re a great team. It’s going to be a battle, we’re going to have to play a really good game. I really think we are talented enough to do it,” said Clegg.