High school girls basketball: 3A semifinal recap, Emery upsets top-seeded Grantsville, Canyon View sneaks past South Summit

Here’s a recap of Tuesday’s 3A girls basketball semifinals at the UCCU Center in Orem.

Canyon View 45, South Summit 37

Whenever you get 17 steals in a game you give yourself a really good chance at taking the win. That’s exactly what Canyon View did Tuesday as it beat South Summit 45-37 in the 3A semifinals.

Canyon View was a defensive pest all game and made life difficult for the Wildcat offense. Meanwhile, its own offense got off to a quick start with 19 first quarter points, shooting 3-of-5 from 3, and led by six.

South Summit slowed the game down in the second quarter though and kept Canyon View at bay with only two points in the frame. The Wildcats didn’t score particularly well, but their defense was enough to take a 22-21 halftime lead.

“South Summit threw some good little kinks at us,” said Canyon View head coach Jaycee Barnhurst of the second quarter struggles. “They denied two of our best shooters and it took us a while to adjust.

“They thought, ‘What do I do when I’m denied?’ We just kind of sat there, we freaked out a little bit and we had a bit of a pity party. At halftime we talked about some things to do and I felt like those players adjusted and then it was a different game from there.”

1 of 16

2 of 16

3 of 16

4 of 16

5 of 16

6 of 16

7 of 16

8 of 16

9 of 16

10 of 16

11 of 16

12 of 16

13 of 16

14 of 16

15 of 16

16 of 16

The offensive groove never truly came back for Canyon View, but it more than made up for it with its second half defense. South Summit averaged 51.5 points per game, which was one of the better offenses in 3A, and Canyon View held it to just 15 points in the second half.

South Summit star Emma Broadbent still filled up the stat sheet with 17 points and 19 rebounds, but Canyon View kept her shooting percentage to an inefficient 26%.

“When we talked at halftime, I said that we have a lot of players that can score, but the focus had to be on defense,” Barnhurst said. “If we wanted to win this game, we had to find a way to stop them. Defense leads to offense, and we got it done. We figured it out.”

The score stayed close, but fourth quarter steals and transition buckets from Maya Nichols and Bethanee Vargas were enough to put Canyon View safely over South Summit.

Vargas led the Falcons in scoring with 16 points, and Nichols was right behind her with 14.

Canyon View will have a chance to win its first state championship since 2006, but it will have to do so against Region 12 foe Emery in Wednesday’s championship game.

The Spartans and Falcons traded games this season, each winning one at home.

“Hats off to Emery for getting past Grantsville and we’re excited to see Region 12 match up in the championship,” Barnhurst said. “I think it says a lot about our region. We’re going to go prepare and we’re going to be ready to go.”

Emery 50, Grantsville 47

You wouldn’t have been crazy if you believed the 3A girls state tournament was anything but a formality. After all, Grantsville had an argument as the best team in the state for a large portion of this season.

From 3A opponents to 6A, the Cowboys took down everyone in their path. The only blemish on their otherwise perfect record was a loss to Duke signee Emilee Skinner and the Ridgeline Riverhawks, Maxpreps’ 14th-ranked team in the entire country.

That’s why it was shocking when No. 5 Emery punched its ticket to the championship game with an upset of top-seeded Grantsville 50-47 in the 3A semifinals on Tuesday thanks to some clutch plays down the stretch.

The Cowboys and Spartans played each other in early December and it was a completely different story, with Grantsville steamrolling Emery 63-17.

“They were the only ones that believed in them,” said Emery head coach John Faimalo of his players. “Everybody else wrote (Grantsville) in as the state champion.

“Our girls didn’t believe in that, and that’s all that matters. We believed in each other, coaches believed in the girls and the girls believed in each other.”

1 of 18

2 of 18

3 of 18

4 of 18

5 of 18

6 of 18

7 of 18

8 of 18

9 of 18

10 of 18

11 of 18

12 of 18

13 of 18

14 of 18

15 of 18

16 of 18

17 of 18

18 of 18

Instead of getting blown out, Emery jumped on Grantsville with hot shooting early and ended the first half having made 57% of its 3-point attempts.

The Spartans led by eight at one point but Grantsville never went away, and and a buzzer beater from Avery Allred kept the Cowboys within 26-25 at halftime.

The biggest asset Grantsville utilized against Emery was it’s point-of-attack defense, as Allred and Kodee Williams kept things tough on the Emery guards.

Turnovers were a problem all game for Emery as it ended the semifinal with 29 giveaways. That might kill most teams, but each time the Spartans ran back on defense and often picked off a turnover of their own.

“It’s the same quote I had last year. ‘Stats are stats.’ At the end of the day we could have 100 turnovers but as long as the scoreboard shows a win, that’s the only stat I care about,” Faimalo said.

Emery led almost the whole way through the second half, though it never became more than a three-possession game. Every time Emery threatened to break the contest open, Grantsville responded with a run of its own.

One such sequence came midway through the fourth quarter when Emery held a 42-37 lead, as Grantsville had a quick succession of a 3 from Williams and a transition bucket from Emmy Butler to tie it 42-42

Then with the game tied 47-47 with under 30 seconds left, the Spartan defense forced a turnover and Kali Jensen went to the free throw line, where she made one of two shots.

The Spartans then forced another turnover and KaBree Gordon sunk both three throws to secure the 50-47 win.

Katelyn Nielson was also a big offensive piece for Emery in the win with 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

“I’m just so proud of my girls and the way they laid it all out,” Faimalo said. “We had nothing to lose. Grantsville is a good team, so we’re lucky to get away with the win and it’s just great for our girls. My girls played hard and that’s about all I can say.”