Here’s a recap of Monday’s 3A quarterfinals at the UCCU Center in Orem.
South Summit 56, Richfield 53
A quick start by No. 3 seed South Summit helped fend off a potential comeback from Richfield in a 56-53 affair.
South Summit was led by Emma Broadbent, who had a standout performance with 11 points and 17 rebounds. Mariah Bowen also had a stellar outing with 11 points to go along with three rebounds and three steals.
“Coming into the game it’s only natural to feel like the nerves will be there but the girls played really composed. Hats off to Richfield. We jumped on them early and they didn’t go away. Their press was amazing, but I loved our composure in that game, and it was just about as good as it has been all year,” said South Summit head coach Matt Mapstone.
South Summit got on top of Richfield early, starting the game on a 10-0 run. Richfield’s offense was dry to start and did not get their first points of the game until the back half of the first quarter. Richfield scored eight points to end the opening frame, chipping away at the deficit and staying within arm’s length of South Summit.
South Summit took a 29-24 lead into the halftime break and never let up. It was fairly even in the third quarter, but South Summit was able to increase their lead and held a 9-point advantage heading into the final quarter.
Needing to make up some ground quickly, Richfield chose to initiate a full court press, something that gave South Summit trouble at times. The full court press combined with some defensive stops allowed Richfield to get back in the game and eventually tie the score with one minute remaining.
South Summit’s Maklee Woolstenhulme and Taya Rose netted clutch free throws down the stretch and put their team up by three points with second seconds left. Richfield had a chance to tie the game up as the buzzer sounded but a traveling violation gave South Summit the victory, pushing them through the semifinals.
“We tried really hard not to rush things. There were a few times where we did and had some unfortunate turnovers. I’ve had these girls for three years and we were 3-18 two years ago,” Mapstone said. “I have the same kids this year and the way they were able to come in here and do something like that it just blows my mind.”
Canyon View 47, Juab 40
A win is a win, it doesn’t matter how you get it.
That was the message from Canyon View head coach Jaycee Barnhurst after her team found a way to get by Juab 47-40 to advance to the semifinals of the 3A state playoffs.
Maya Nichols had a game-high 21 points for Canyon View, with 18 of those points coming in the second half.
In a game that saw 47 total turnovers, Canyon View got off to a fast start, scoring 12 of the first 14 points of the game.
Canyon View had all sorts of trouble taking care of the ball in the first half, allowing 17 total turnovers in the half.
It was a low scoring first half for both teams, with Juab taking the slim advantage into the halftime break 18-15.
It was evident what the halftime message was going to be for Canyon View at half, and that message was well received.
“The biggest thing we talked about at half was that we have to take care of the ball. We had 17 in the first half and most games we don’t have 17 total. We needed to take care of the ball and do what we were good at,” said Barnhurst.
Canyon View had eight turnovers in the second half. The ability to take better care of the ball in the second half allowed the offense of Canyon View to catch fire and put up 32 points in the half.
Barhurst hopes her team can take some vital lessons out of the game and make a deep run in the playoffs.
“I think hopefully now that we have played a game, we’re into it and those turnovers won’t happen again,” Barhurst said. “We just have to play our game early. We can’t let the other team control the pace, don’t let other things control what we do and control what we can control. I think that will be big for us moving forward.”
Grantsville 70, Judge Memorial 58
Forty-four 2nd half points gave top seeded Grantsville the boost it needed to get past Judge Memorial 70-58.
Grantsville received a standout performance from Baylee Loweder, filling up the scoresheet with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Grantsville also got strong offensive performances from Avery Allred and Kodee Williams, scoring 26 and 11 points respectively.
“We started out slow, but Judge did a great job moving the ball against our defense and knocking down shots. They forced us to adjust so credit to them. I think our kids settled in a little bit and were able to get to the rim which helped, and eventually we were able to knock down some shots,” said Grantsville head coach Megan Vera.
For a big chunk of the game, it looked like the No. 1 seed might be in trouble. Judge was up 28-26 and shot 52% in the first half to Grantsville’s 35%.
“We told them to just settle. Like, you know what to do. It’s going to be just fine. We told them to just settle in with no regrets. 16 minutes left lets go and take control right now,” said Vera.
Grantsville was solid all night defensively, getting a total of 20 steals for the game. That allowed the offense to ease into the game and eventually catch fire.
Grantsville turned up the energy on both sides of the ball in the 2nd half. The team was much more dialed in offensively in the 2nd half, shooting 57% from the field and 50% from the free throw line.
“Scoring is usually not something we have issues doing. I think our slow defense led to some slow offense early on and so we had to adjust. We had to figure out how to score in the half court, which usually isn’t our biggest strength. I think they just had to change their mentality when we weren’t getting as many points off of transition,” said Vera.
Emery 44, Morgan 30
In a defensive effort throughout, Emery grinded its way past Morgan with a 44-30 victory.
Emery had solid performances from both Katelyn Nielson and Kabree Gordon, who had 16 and 12 points respectively.
“It was kind of an ugly game on both sides. Offensively, we were fortunate enough to hit some outside shots. Morgan were very physical, which made things tougher for us. We had a little bit of a lead and then kind of panicked a little bit so that was unfortunate, but the girls found a way to pull through,” said Emery head coach Jon Faimalo.
Neither team had much going for them in the 1st half, and it was Emery who found themselves with a 22-17 lead at the break. Morgan shot 17% from the field for the game, while Emery did a tad bit better by shooting 27%.
“I thought we shot the ball well from outside. We struggled with that all year so it’s nice to see an outside shot go in. We rebounded a lot better in the 3rd quarter, which was huge, so those two things will probably stand out to me the most, added Faimalo
Emery was able to increase their lead to double digits early in the 4th quarter before Morgan made a mini run to try to stay in the game. Morgan could never find their groove offensively, and Emery now has a semifinal date with top seeded Grantsville.
“Grantsville (is) really good. They shoot the ball well, have really good ball handlers and they don’t really have much of a weakness. They run a really good press, and you could see in the 4th quarter tonight that we weren’t very good at breaking the press, so we’re going to have to really be on our A game,” said Faimalo.
Morgan was led by Keira Brewer, who had team-high 12 points in defeat.