High school girls basketball: Blackham comes up big late in Skyridge’s thrilling 46-43 quarterfinal win over Syracuse

SALT LAKE CITY — Presented with a now or never situation, Skyridge guard Ally Blackham opted for the “now.”

With the Falcons clinging to a 44-43 lead over Syracuse with just over eight seconds left on the clock, Blackham just went for it. She got to the right spot, deflected the pass to the low-post, and then dribbled the length of the floor to lay it in for a 46-43 Skyridge win at the buzzer.

“It was either now or never. I mean if not, then the season’s over,” Blackham said of her mentality. “Basically I was just in the right spot at the right time, and I nicked it out of her hand.”

Turns out Blackham has a knack of being in the right place at the right time.

Throughout Wednesday’s win, Blackham proved tough to handle. Whether it be slashing for a key bucket or providing shutdown defense, she came through time and again. Altogether, she finished with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and five steals.

Skyridge 46, Syracuse 43

Box score

Leading scorers:

Skyridge: Ally Blackham, 19

Syracuse: Rachel Godfrey, 20

With Blackham leading the way, the Falcons set out to a 25-12 halftime lead, seemingly poised to cruise the rest of the way in.

But Syracuse wasn’t quite finished and chipped away at the lead throughout the third quarter before finally coming all the way back to take a 39-38 lead with 3:15 left in the fourth quarter.

The two teams went back and forth from that point until Blackham put Skyridge up 44-43 off a driving layup with 15.3 seconds remaining. Two timeouts were called on the ensuing possession, setting up Blackham’s final heroics of the afternoon.

“We just realized it was the state tournament and that it was now or never,” Blackham said of what prompted her team’s rally after squandering a big lead. “You lose and you go home, and we were going to regret not giving it everything we had.”

According to Skyridge coach Gabriel Roberts, the turnaround late had to do with getting back to basics.

“You can only be who you are,” Roberts said. “I was thinking we just need to back up, keep everything in front of us, but that’s not our style. Our style is to press and force them into turnovers.”

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Turnovers played a big factor throughout, as it were, with the Falcons forcing 24 Syracuse turnovers to just five on their end. Of course the biggest turnover came during the final seconds.

“It came down to one play, and Ally Blackham made the play of the game,” Roberts said.

Also playing big for the Falcons was Nala Fainga, who scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds, and Keylee Melling, who added seven points and one of the bigger shots of the game late.

Syracuse was led by Rachel Godfrey and her game-high 20 points, along with Whitney Sorenson, who added 10.

With the win, Skyridge advances to the semifinal round where it will take on defending champion Fremont.

“It’s so big for us, as a team because we’ve worked so hard for the past four years,” Blackham said. “... It’s just cool to watch it as a group effort, and as a team.”