High school girls basketball: Springville rebounds to take a 42-35 win over Skyline in 5A quarterfinals

The Red Devils overcame a horrid start to get by the Eagles during the quarterfinal round on Tuesday.

Published: Feb 25, 2020, 7:30 p.m. MST

Springville players explode off the bench as they take the lead over Skyline in the 5A girls quarterfinal basketball game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. Steve Griffin, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Springville’s Lauryn Deede had a tough time explaining exactly how she got all of them, but she did, and that’s what proved important.

Deede’s seven offensive rebounds proved pivotal in the Red Devils’ 42-35 win over Skyline in the 5A state quarterfinals on Tuesday. She converted several of those offensive rebounds into points, scoring 12 points herself in helping punch her team’s ticket to the semifinal round.

“After that first quarter, we got our footing, calmed down and played better offensively. We (told them) that if they started to play defense that it would come.” — Springville coach Holli Averett

“My shots weren’t going, so I was like, ‘I got to get these rebounds,’ so I was just focused on that, I guess,” Deede said.

The focus paid big dividends, with the Red Devils able to overcome a horrid start out of the gate to regroup and own the final three quarters of play.

Helping Deede clean up the glass considerably was Addisyn Johnson, who added nine total rebounds while matching Deede’s 12 points scored. Deede ended up with 14 total rebounds, which included two consecutive boards within the game’s final 30 seconds to help fend off the hard-charging Eagles.

As for that horrid start? Chalk it up nerves in playing at the Huntsman Center.

“It’s different. It’s a lot different,” Deede said, confirming nerves played a factor in Skyline taking a 9-0 lead to start the game, with Springville not scoring its first points until just over a minute remaining in the first quarter.

Springville 41, Skyline 35

(Box score)

Leading scorers

Springville: Kayla Jackson, 13

Skyline: Amit Lustgarten, 12

For Springville coach Holli Averett, she was confident her young team would eventually come around.

“After that first quarter, we got our footing, calmed down and played better offensively,” Averett said. “We (told them) that if they started to play defense that it would come.”

It did, in fact come around, with Springville closing the lead from 13-4 after one quarter to 19-14 at the half. Averett’s team kept chipping away at the lead from there, eventually squaring things up at 23-23 with 2:12 left in the third quarter.

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As solid as the defense was, it was the rebounding effort that stood out, with Deede primarily providing extra shot attempts for her and her teammates. The beneficiary of a lot of Deede’s work was Springville guard Kayla Jackson, who finished with a game-high 13 points, which included two big 3-point buckets.

“We always coach that if you’re off-ball, then you get the rebound,” Averett said. “You get position and you rebound, and they did it.”

Skyline was led by Amit Lustgarten and her team-high 12 points.

With the win, Springville advances to the semifinal round to take on Lehi.