High school girls basketball: Bountiful rides fast start to repeat 5A state championship

Box score

A year ago, Bountiful couldn’t start celebrating its 5A state championship until Springville’s game-winning 3-pointer attempt rattled out at the buzzer.

A year later, the Redhawks’ repeat party started, much, much earlier.

“To be able to go back-to-back, it’s a dream. As we started the year, as coaches, we sat down and we felt like we could put together a team that would be pretty darn competitive and give us a chance.”

—  Bountiful coach Joel Burton.

Top-ranked Bountiful held No. 2 Wasatch scoreless in the first quarter, and built a 22-point halftime lead en route to a dominant 62-35 victory to win its second-straight state championship and its fourth in school history.

“To be able to go back-to-back, it’s a dream. As we started the year, as coaches, we sat down and we felt like we could put together a team that would be pretty darn competitive and give us a chance knowing as young as we are,” said Bountiful coach Joel Burton.

The game was never close, as the youthful Wasps, with just one senior starting, never seemed comfortable on the big stage at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center. Bountiful, meanwhile, played like a team with championship experience throughout the game, as Milika Satuala and Taylor Harvey led Bountiful in scoring Friday just like they did a year ago in the state title game.

Bountiful realistically won the game in the first quarter, jumping out to a 17-0 lead.

In the Wasps’ disastrous first quarter, they had 12 offensive possessions and went scoreless on 0-of-12 shooting with five turnovers.

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Harvey’s interior presence defensively, along with Mae Johnson, played a big part in the Wasps’ struggles, as every shot at the rim and in the paint was contested and contributed to the goose egg.

“We were motivated. We had something to prove and I think defensively we locked in and we knew our assignments and that led to them not scoring,” said Harvey, who was named the Deseret News’ 5A tournament MVP.

Harvey finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, six blocks, four steals and three assists. Satuala added 19 points.

“Those two have carried a huge load all year. There’s been games we’ve had hardly any points from anyone else ‘cause those two had to carry such a huge chunk at times ‘til our kids started growing up,” said Burton

For Wasatch, the second quarter was only a bit better on 1-of-10 shooting, with Bountiful extending its lead to 29-7 at the half, as Satuala led the way with 12 points. Wasatch shot just 5% from the field in the first half (1 of 21), with five of its points coming from the free-throw line.

Despite the huge cushion at the half, Burton made sure his players didn’t get too comfortable heading into the third quarter.

“Keep going, we can’t afford to let down. All it is going to take is three, four minutes of us letting down and all of a sudden it’s a different game. The message was to keep going,” said Burton, whose team ended the season on a 20-game winning streak.

In the semis earlier this week, Bountiful had a poor second quarter that allowed Box Elder back into the game as it took a 28-25 halftime lead. The Redhawks dominated the third quarter, though, to pull away for good.

In the third, Wasatch found some rhythm offensively as it opened the half on a 7-2 run, cutting the lead to 31-14. After that, though, juniors Harvey and Johnson took over scoring 11 of Bountiful’s 17 points in closing the quarter and extending the lead to 48-20.

Johnson finished with 10 points and eight rebounds and was the complementary third scorer for Bountiful.

“Mae doesn’t get enough credit. That kid does an incredible job for us on defense, so it’s been so awesome to see her grow and progress in just her third year playing basketball, second real year. Her growth and progress has been absolutely amazing,” said Burton.

Bountiful finished the game shooting 42% from the field and enjoyed a 32-8 edge in the paint. Wasatch finished the game shooting 17% from the field with 19 turnovers.

Deseret News 5A all-tournament team

• MVP — Taylor Harvey, Bountiful.
• Milika Satuala, Bountiful.
• Mae Johnson, Bountiful.
• Peyton Behnke, Wasatch.
• Ashley Garner, Wasatch.
• Ashlyn Wight, Box Elder.