SALT LAKE CITY — Down 15 in the third quarter, and then still down 10 with 3:12 remaining in the game, Springville was on the verge of bowing out the 5A state tournament in Thursday’s 5A semifinals.
The players never stopped fighting though, and improbably No. 2 Springville closed the final three minutes on a 14-2 run to rally for the stunning 71-69 victory over No. 3 Woods Cross at the Huntsman Center to advance to Saturday’s championship game.
Springville coach Justin Snell said his group of eight seniors never stopped fighting despite the deficit. He didn’t expect anything less.
“The boys just kept working and working. It’s what a group does. It’s why you have eight seniors, because you know they’re going to get out there and give it all,” Snell said.
Springville scored the game’s final 10 points over the final 2:19, including Zach Visentin’s rebound putback with 24 seconds remaining that proved to be the game-winner.
Springville 71, Woods Cross 69
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Leading scorers
Springville: Zach Visentin, 25
Woods Cross: Quaid Knell, 15
“All season I’ve had three guys on me so I was kind of used to it, but I just gotta use all 260 pounds of me and pushed my way to the ball,” Visentin said.
Suddenly trailing for the first time in the second half, Woods Cross had three shots at the other end at a potential winner after a couple of offensive rebounds, but the hot-shooting from the first three quarters had disappeared.
Visentin scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter to spearhead the comeback as Springville never settled for just 3-pointers to claw back into the game.
In fact, the only 3-pointer of the fourth quarter for Springville was Cooper Riggs’ long-range shot with 1:56 remaining that cut the deficit to 69-66.
Springville’s pressure defense forced Woods Cross into turnovers on its next two possessions. After the first turnover, Visentin converted a layup, trimming the deficit to 69-68 with 1:00 remaining. Woods Cross turned the ball over eight second later, which set the stage for the game-winner for the Red Devils.
A big key in the fourth quarter for Springville was it still had all five of its timeouts with four minutes remaining, which allowed Snell to play offense-defense with the 6-foot-9 Visentin.
“It was huge for us because we got to play offense-defense. We got to take Zach out and be aggressive because that’s where they were finding the holes is they’d get it to Zach’s guy, and Zach was a little nervous cause he doesn’t play out there that much and we were giving some things up,” Snell said.
Springville finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field and only committed seven turnovers. Woods Cross finished shooting 42 percent, including 10-of-20 from 3-point range, which helped it build the 50-35 lead midway through the third quarter.
Quaid Knell led Woods Cross in the loss with 15 points, while four other players also scored in double figures.
Springville will take on No. 4 Timpview in the 5A championship on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.