High school girls basketball: Fast start propels Pleasant Grove past Lone Peak

A lighting-fast start by Pleasant Grove propelled them past Lone Peak 65-52. With the win Pleasant Grove moves to 9-0 on the season, remaining perfect on the season.

The Vikings were led by Tabitha Clark who had a game-high 20 points and 5 3-pointers. Zuri Nordstrom and Sutton Villa also put together solid performances by grabbing 13 and 12 points respectively.

Pleasant Grove wasted no time getting on top of Lone Peak and dominated the entire opening quarter. Pleasant Grove started the game on a 15-0 run and never looked back.

“The start we had was huge. When you play a great team like Lone Peak that is just used to winning and knows how to come back often, you have to get on top of them early. You have to be the one that comes out hot, comes out more aggressive and comes out attacking,” said Pleasant Grove head coach Angela Villa.

Villa went on to add that the team makes a point of talking about the proper way to start out games, something that proved to be very beneficial.

“In practice always talk about how we want to start games. We want to come out strong, come out on top and we want to execute where we are best,” said Villa. “We’re deadly from the 3-point line and we’re deadly from inside. Either way that we start, I feel confident in our team to get things going on the right foot.”

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After taking a 34-21 lead into halftime, Pleasant Grove was very weary of the capability that Lone Peak has to come back. Lone Peak started the third quarter on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 8 points. Pleasant Grove had an immediate answer with back-to-back three pointers.

Villa wasn’t quite sure where her team stood coming into their game against Lone Peak, but with the victory she is very pleased with what she has been seeing.

“This team is magical and every day I am grateful for the gift that I have to coach this team. The camaraderie that the girls have is ridiculous. It’s their seniority, their leadership. They’re performers, they’re doers, they’re all stars, they’re all of those things. I didn’t know exactly where would be at this point but after tonight it’s given me a really good measuring tool.”

While some teams may stumble when faced with adversity or obstacles, Villa sees no limit to what her team can accomplish.

“I don’t think there is a ceiling with this team. If you look at what we have at every position, there’s no ceiling. For us, it’s about playing to our standard and every practice and every game we walk away having learned something. Having that standard lifts us and raises us.”