If there’s one phrase you could use to describe Canyon View’s state tournament, it would be “pesky defense.” Throughout the 3A tournament, the Falcons were relentless and made offenses uncomfortable, especially with its point-of-attack defense.
It’s exactly what the Falcons needed and they utilized it to great success in the team’s first state title since 2006 with a 47-41 3A championship win over No. 5 Emery.
Defense was a crucial element of Canyon View’s title run as its offense struggled to pull away games. It’s tenacity on that side of the ball kept it in all of its tournament games.
“I always tease them that they have mindsets of dogs with a bone or a piece of meat,” said Canyon View head coach Jaycee Barnhurst of her championship squad. “That ball, they’re going to figure out a way to get it. When you have girls that play that way, it’s really hard to beat teams that do that.”
Canyon View’s offensive struggles were most apparent in the first half, scoring only 15 points with a 25% field goal percentage and went 0-11 from 3. Meanwhile, Emery was getting the ball inside to Katelyn Nielson, who had 10 points in the first half.
Starting slow and playing better has been a trend for the Falcons throughout the 3A state tournament. Luckily for them, the championship game was no different, and they trailed only by six at halftime.
“The first thing we said is, ‘Good news, we’re down six and we played terrible,’” said Barnhurst. “Then we just said, ‘Every game this tournament we have been behind at halftime, so take it for what it’s worth and go out and change the mindset.’ Win the first three minutes, win the third quarter and good things will happen.”
The third quarter was a big swing in momentum back to the Falcons as they scored 19, including a buzzer-beater from Macey Sorenson to tie it 34-34. However, in the fourth quarter, Canyon View’s signature defense was out on display.
Senior guard duo Bethanee Vargas and Maya Nichols gave opposing guards issues all tournament and generated plenty of transition buckets.
“Our whole game is defense,” Vargas said, who also led Canyon View in scoring with 12 points. “It’s what we work on at practice, defense, defense, defense. Defense leads to offense, steals leads to tips, which leads to deflections, which leads to buckets.”
The defense quickly paid off in the fourth quarter as Maylee Spencer hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Canyon View a 41-37 lead, which it held onto throughout the final period.
The Spartans had a spark of hope being down only four in the final minute, but a 3-point dagger from Kambree Potter put Emery away and secured the Falcons the 3A crown.
“This is a team that understands what it means to work hard and to get after it,” Barnhurst said. “I think that’s the difference in games like this. It wasn’t pretty on either side, it was an ugly game, but teams that work hard, that get on the floor, that play for each other, they figure out how to get wins done. That’s what we’ve seen all year.”
3A All-Tournament Team
MVP- Bethanee Vargas, Canyon View
Maya Nichols, Canyon View
Katelyn Nielson, Emery
Kabree Gordon, Emery
Emma Broadbent, South Summit
Avery Allred, Grantsville