Box score
One Utah team all season managed to stay within single digits of No. 1 Lone Peak, which owns a 36-point margin of victory against in-state foes.
That one team, however, just so happened to be the Knights’ 6A quarterfinal opponent at the Dee Events Center on Tuesday. Just two weeks ago Westlake only lost to Lone Peak by nine points, even though it did get humbled earlier in the season in a 34-point blowout loss.
That relatively close call was extra motivation for the Knights, who came out and put on a show and reminded everyone in 6A who the overwhelming favorite is at this year’s state tournament.
Lone Peak blew past overmatched Westlake very early, outscoring the Thunder in all four quarters on its way to a dominant 72-39 victory to advance to Thursday’s semifinals.
“We knew that we didn’t play our best game last time, and so we were ready to come back and redeem ourselves from that game and give a better showing,” said Lone Peak coach Nancy Warner.
Lone Peak led 19-8 after the first quarter and then 41-11 at the half as it held Westlake to just 25% shooting in that first half.
It was a very focused approach for Lone Peak, which is what Warner fully expected.
“We’ve never been here on this floor before, so just any chance for them to play together and play the game they love is a great opportunity. They’ll take every opportunity they get to compete and I think that’s what you saw tonight,” said Warner.
Lone Peak dominated in all facets, outrebounding Westlake 41-24 and forcing 16 turnovers. Offensively it shot 45% and made eight 3-pointers.
Leading scorer Kailey Woolston accounted for five of those 3s on 5-of-8 shooting as she finished with 24 points.
“We did not have our best showing last game against them and we just wanted to redeem ourselves,” said Woolston, a BYU commit.
At one point she was 5 of 6 from 3 as she missed her final two attempts in the second half with the outcome well in hand.
“She’s impressive in every facet. She does anything and everything, and just as a true competitor always working to improve and will show you that she can do it all on the floor. She’s a joy to coach and fun to watch,” said Warner.
Lone Peak junior Sarah Bartholomew dominated the interior, scoring 14 points and grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds. Shawnee Nordstrom added 11 points for the Knights.
The victory extended Lone Peak’s win streak against Utah teams to 41 straight. Its three losses this season all came against out-of-state teams who are all ranked in the top 10 of the MaxPreps national rankings.
With the win, Lone Peak advances to Thursday’s semifinal at 3 p.m., where it will face the winner of Fremont-Mountain Ridge.