It is always an anticipated game when the two Herriman high schools face off, but the stakes were even higher Thursday with the Herriman Mustangs and Mountain Ridge Sentinels tied in the Region 2 standings.
“It’s a really big rivalry,” said Herriman senior Shelby Ulibarri. “We live five minutes away from each other, we have two transfers from Mountain Ridge, we all know each other, so it’s a really tough rivalry.”
The Mustangs have had an up-and-down season heading into Thursday night, and the last matchup between the two teams didn’t go so well for Herriman, which lost 54-41 on January 11.
This time though, it was Herriman who got the best of Mountain Ridge, 49-41.
“Last game our problem was turnovers and we really worked on taking our time with their press, breaking it and not panicking,” said Herriman assistant coach Caitlyn Alldredge, who filled in as head coach in Kent Smith’s absence.
“They did such a good job of taking care of the ball, using the shot clock and taking good shots.”
With the help of two 3-pointers from Kyla Talbot, Herriman built a quick 14-9 first quarter lead. Mountain Ridge answered back by allowing only a single field goal in the second quarter and brought it within 21-20 at halftime.
Herriman maintained its slim lead in the third quarter but its lack of rebounding early in the fourth quarter allowed Mountain Ridge to overtake the lead.
“The girls knew what they were doing wrong, and they really just flipped the switch and they picked it up on their defense,” said Alldredge.
“They stopped fouling and they stopped letting them get all the boards. It was really just heart, a lot of heart.”
The Mustangs trailed 40-41 with 90 seconds left and it seemed that Mountain Ridge would take a second win over them, but Herriman had different plans.
The Mustangs forced six consecutive scoreless Sentinels possessions while Ulibarri and Halli Burbidge hit some big shots for a 9-0 run to secure the win.
Ulibarri led all scorers with 16 points, seven of which came in the fourth quarter.
“I feel like we had a really good defensive game all around,” said Ulibarri “The only thing that hurt us was rebounds, but I feel like we did a lot better boxing out. We just went back to the fundamentals and played together and stayed positive.”
Ulibarri said it was all smiles and cheers in the Mustangs’ locker room after the win.
“You should have seen this in the locker room. It was crazy. We were super excited and we’re super excited for what’s to come,” said Ulibarri.
It was a confidence building win for Herriman, which may come in handy as teams are preparing for the playoffs.
“It was so big,” said Alldredge. “They took one from us before and this honestly meant so much to us. The schools are so close together that all these girls know each other.
“It’s such a big rivalry and it just it shows that we could have won the first one, too. We had a bad game and it felt good to come out and play Herriman basketball and show them who we are.”