Throughout the season the Springville Red Devils have consistently solidified themselves as the premier 5A threat.
Springville faced a significant size disadvantage against Timpanogos but still found a way to come out on top with a 51-49 victory.
The Red Devils looked good to start the game. They played their signature ‘Red Devil defense’, had patient ball movement, and rebounded well given the size disadvantage.
The effort was rewarded with a 28-20 lead at half. However, the real challenge came in the second half.
Timpanogos center Kate Dickinson started to heat up out of the half. Being the tallest girl on the court she put up a 15-point, 16-rebound double-double.
“(Kate Dickinson) is big, she’s good, and they have shooters,” said Springville head coach Holli Averett.
“We can’t always double on her, we can’t pinch too much because they can kick it out and hit shots.
“So we were just trying to find that mix of ‘can we bring enough pressure so they can’t get easy looks into her? When we have to can we double?’
“There were times where we looked pretty good and there were times where we didn’t.”
The Timberwolves finished the third with phenomenal defense and held Springville to just five third-quarter points.
Springville eight-point halftime lead was cut down to three going into the fourth.
Red Devil’s Brook Pennington scored the opening six points of the quarter to regain a nine point lead.
And when Timpanogos fought back within five, Pennington scored the next five for Springville. Pennington scored 11 of Springville’s 18 fourth quarter points.
“It feels good, I mean obviously I credit it all to the team because I couldn’t do it without them, but it was also the adrenaline for sure,” said Pennington.
“I think we put a lot of trust into Katie (Durfy). She does such a good job of keeping teams out of the paint. I think we just put a lot of trust in each other, knowing that we’ll be there when we need it.”
It was a tighter game with more mistakes than top-seeded Springville would’ve liked, but it gives Springville a chance to lock back in heading into the semifinals.
“I thought we great and I thought it was good for us to learn from those little mistakes,” said Averett.
“I thought they fought, and Timpanogos is a really good team.
They have a big, they’ve got shooters, have a really good point guard, they play tough, and they played great. We had those good moments, we came back together, we were able to finish, and dialed it in on D.”
Despite the close score, Springville never trailed in Wednesday’s game.