High school girls basketball: 6A quarterfinals recap, 3 lowers seeds advance to semis along with top seed Copper Hills

Here’s a recap of the 6A girls basketball quarterfinals at the University of Utah on Monday. This story will be updated.

Bingham 72, Fremont 38

In the 6A quarterfinal night cap on Monday, No. 5 seed Bingham jumped all over No. 4 seed Fremont and never slowed down in a surprisingly lopsided state tournament game.

The Miners jumped out to a 16-point led in the first quarter, and then proceeded to outscore the Silverwolves in three more quarters on its way to the easy 72-38 win at the University of Utah.

Bingham shattered its season-high of 61 points this season, and did so impressively against one of the stingiest defenses in 6A.

Fremont came into the quarters ranked fourth in 6A scoring defense this season allowing just 39.5 ppg. Bingham eclipsed that total by halftime as it led 40-23 at the break.

With the win, Bingham advances to face region foe and top seed Copper Hills on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Copper Hills beat Bingham twice during region play this year, winning 53-44 at home and then 46-46 at Bingham three weeks ago.

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If Bingham can duplicate its shooting performance from Monday night, it can beat any team in Utah. It shot 62 percent from the field (28 of 45) and a whopping 71 percent from 3-point range (12 of 17).

Four different Bingham players scored in double figures, with Addy Horsley leading the way with 18 points to go along with her five rebounds and five assists. Evy Roberts knocked 4-of-5 3-pointers to finished with 14 points and five rebounds.

Raylynn Richardson chipped in with 13 points and Lena Capserson added a dozen points.

Bingham’s defense set the tone early as it sped up Fremont’s offense, which led to turnovers and easy buckets in transition. It was a deficit that Fremont couldn’t overcome on a night when it shot just 31 percent from the field — half of what its opponent shot.

Copper Hills 46, Mountain Ridge 32

Jake Timpson said he thinks Copper Hills has a lot of silent fans rooting for his Grizzlies to win the 6A girls state basketball championship.

The Grizzlies are the No. 1 seed and the logical favorite to end Lone Peak’s three-year reign. Monday night, they took another step forward by earning a 46-32 win over Mountain Ridge in a quarterfinal match at the University of Utah’s Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Aspen Fraser had a great all-around game and finished with 17 points, while Skyline Barker added 12 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots. With the win, the Grizzlies moved their record to 19-5 and will advance to take on Bingham Wednesday at 11 a.m.

“This is our third time playing (the Sentinels),” said Timpson. “You never know what’s going to happen in the tournament but you’re always in the game if you’re playing (good) defense.”

The Grizzlies swept Mountain Ridge during the regular season, but the score of the last game two weeks ago was 42-40. This time, Copper Hills took a 5-0 first-quarter lead and didn’t allow the Sentinels to find many open looks at the basket. Thus, the Grizzlies were never seriously threatened.

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Mountain Ridge made just 10 baskets (on 37 shots) and also hurt itself with 50 percent free-throw shooting. After falling behind 17-7 after the first quarter, the Sentinels had many opportunities to close the gap. They limited Copper Hills to two second-quarter baskets but the lead still remained 10 points.

“That was some quarter,” Timpson said. “We came into the locker room and I just told them to quit standing around the perimeter and move the ball some.”

The result was noticeable immediately as Fraser got more involved. She scored from inside and the perimeter and a three-pointer at the buzzer boosted the margin to 35-18.

Mountain Ridge’s shooting never improved. Jada Jangard led with eight points but the Sentinels’ deficit reached 18 points at one point.

Mountain Ridge ended its season with a 16-8 mark. The Sentinels finished tied with Bingham for second place in Region 3 and made great strides after a 2-2 start. Jessica Maynard added six points and seven rebounds.

Lone Peak 56, Syracuse 30

It turns out the 6A girls state championship might go through Lone Peak High School again.

For the fifth straight season, the Knights reached the 6A state tournament semifinals. They might have more losses this year than coach Nancy Warner hoped, but they put together one of their most complete games of the season Monday evening and rolled to a 56-30 win over second-seeded Syracuse.

Kennedy Woolston scored 13 points and Zuri Nordstrom had 12 as Lone Peak blew open a tight game in the third quarter and claimed an impressive win. The seventh-seeded Knights improved to 18-7 overall and kept their dream alive of a fourth straight state title.

“It feels great. It’s exciting,” said Warner. “Our players came out and established themselves and played together. When you have an established program, they might feel the pressure but they also recognize what’s expected from them.”

Three mid-December losses to out-of-state teams once deflated the Knights’ hopes but they recovered from that 4-4 record to tie for first place in Region 3 and two defeats to region rival Westlake have been their only flaw since the first of the year.

The Knights handled Riverton in their tourney opener but looked more like a championship-caliber team with the way they whipped Syracuse, the Region 1 champion which came in with a 20-3 record and a No. 2 seed.

“What I liked was how we rebounded,” said Warner, noting that the Titans had a definitive size advantage.

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Lone Peak out-boarded the Titans 37-28 and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, led by 5-foot-9 senior Lave Holdcraft.

Holdcraft said she knew she would be challenged to battle against Syracuse’s front line. She finished with six points and 13 rebounds and was a big factor when the Knights outscored the Titans 20-6 after intermission to extend a 24-20 halftime lead to nearly 20 points.

Lone Peak never let up either.

“They’re playing like it’s a ‘one-and-done’ situation,” said Warner.

“We went after every loose ball like it was do or die,” added Holdcraft. “That’s the way we play. We like to run in transition and move to the ball quickly.”

The Knights also had good teamwork and kept the game at a fast pace. They had nine baskets in the first half, and were credited with eight assists. After that, Woolston, Holdcraft, Nordstrom, Tati Harness and Huni Folau continued to move the ball impressively around the perimeter. When a fastbreak opportunity wasn’t available, the Knights were open enough to nail eight three-pointers.

Syracuse, meanwhile, shot just 31.7 percent from the field and was 0-8 from the perimeter in the second half. Thus, no rally could be created and the Titans left the cavernous arena in despair, despite winning 20 games this season.

Maylee Anderson was one of Syracuse’s bright spots. She played the entire game and finished with 11 points, while Olivia Sorenson had four blocked shots.

Lone Peak advanced to take on another Region 1 foe – Davis – Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

Davis 46, Westlake 44

Davis coach Nicole Waddoups genuinely wondered how her team would respond playing on the big stage at the University of Utah in Monday’s 6A quarterfinal.

On the one hand, she figured her players would be confident after eeking out a second-round win last week with two last-second free throws. On the other hand, hardly anyone on her team had meaningful playoff experience last season, which was a bit worrisome.

Davis didn’t play like an inexperienced team.

The No. 6 Darts jumped out fast, building an early lead it never relinquished on its way to the 46-44 victory to advance to Wednesday’s semifinal at 9:30 a.m. against the Syracuse-Lone Peak winner.

“The key was that we came out ready to play and we executed offensively and we executed defensively. I don’t think Westlake expected that, I just think we took them a little bit by surprise,” said Waddoups.

Davis’ coach said the quick start was invaluable for her young team. Playing with the lead is a lot easier than playing catch-up.

The Darts led 15-4 after the first quarter, and then 27-19 at the half. They came out and got some key buckets in the third quarter from Lydia Tarbet, Kate Willard and T’Maea Eteuati in the third quarter to extend the lead to 37-26 late in the third quarter.

“We knew they were gonna play on us super, super tight. And so it was just getting square to the basket and being strong and finishing. We’ve fought all year, we’ve been close in most games, so the girls know how to fight. That’s what they did,” said Waddoups.

Westlake cut the lead to 37-30 by the end of the third, and then opened the fourth on a 6-2 run to make it a 41-38 game with 3:33 remaining.

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Davis responded with a clutch bucket on its ensuing possession from Mari Nichols to push the lead back to 43-38 with 2:59 remaining. Nichols finished with 11 points for the Darts.

“Kate, you can see she’s super raw out there, but she knows how to go score, and that’s what she does. She just tries to get to the basket if she can,” said Waddoups.

Last Thursday’s in Davis’ 54-52 second round win over Lehi, Nichols made two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining to win the game for the Darts.

On Monday, Davis really struggled from the line down the stretch.

In the final 45 seconds, it made just 3 of 12 free throws as it tried to protect the lead. It collected the offensive rebound on three of those misses though, which kept Westlake from trying to built some momentum.

Westlake cut the lead to 44-41 with 28.9 seconds remaining on a 3-pointer from Ella Seymore, but two of Davis’ free throw makes came immediately after pushing the lead back to 46-44. Westlake tacked on one more 3-pointer by Janiece Sikander with seven seconds remaining, but it ran out of time at the end to try and get one more offensive possession.

Eteuati led Davis with 14 points and seven rebounds, but she exited with a sprained ankle with 2:35 left in the game and didn’t return.