No.5 LCA, No. 6 Morgan, No. 7 Grantsville and No. 8 Union advance to the semifinal round.
LCA 60, Canyon View 42
The games between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds are usually closely contested matches, and this one certainly had some wild swings.
The first quarter was all Torrence Taylor of Canyon View. The sharpshooting guard for the Falcons came out blistering, shooting 5 of 6 from three and 6 of 7 overall as she contributed 17 of her team’s 20 total points in the first quarter, leading the Eagles to have to start double teaming her earlier than anticipated.
Taylor easily outscored LCA by herself in the opening period as the Falcons led 20-12.
“We gave them looks in the first quarter,” said LCA coach Mark Burton. “We played a zone and let them get comfortable and get some good looks.
“They’re from here they had a great crowd here, which did help contribute to us switching to a man defense to limit what Taylor and the others could do against us.”
The second quarter started out like the first as Canyon View quickly scored five points to extend its lead to 25-12, but a timely timeout by Burton helped lead to a quick 9-0 LCA run to cut the Canyon View lead to two, although Canyon View pushed its lead back out to seven by halftime, 31-24.
But the third quarter was all LCA, as it quickly flipped the tide of the game. LCA held Canyon View to just five points in the quarter on 2 of 9 shooting while scoring 21 points on 7 of 17 shooting.
LCA turned its seven-point halftime deficit into a nine-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. Five different players scored for LCA during the quarter, which included a 20-1 run to end the quarter and start the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, LCA expanded its lead to 15 with 5:22 remaining before winning by 18. Ava Smith was a huge contributor for the Eagles, scoring 17 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the win and helping defensively as the Eagles were able to contain Canyon View, outscoring it 36-10 in the second half.
“We missed maybe four easy layups and five free throws while only being down seven at the half,” Burton said. “We knew if we cleaned that up and start playing defense the way we play it, we’ll have a double digit lead by the end of the third.
“We just had to shore some things up. Its been great getting this team back to this point after so long, and don’t forget, three of the four teams (left) are from the same region”
Layton Christian will advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2010, where it will face No. 8 seed Union at SUU.
Union 53, Delta 50
Thursday’s quarterfinal between Union and Delta was a matchup of two teams that were in a drought when it comes to advancing to the semifinals.
The last time Union made an appearance was all the way back in 2010, while Delta hadn’t made it since its 2016 championship run.
On Thursday, Union started strong and then fended off a furious Delta rally in the fourth quarter to get the win and advance.
Delta led 4-2 early but then Union went on a 12-0 run to take a 14-4 lead into the second quarter. During the run, five players scored for Union and the Cougars also clamped down defensively as they held the Rabbits to just 2 of 17 shooting in the first quarter.
Things were pretty even in the second quarter until Union’s Lisa Richards went on a personal 8-0 run and the Cougars stretched their lead to 27-13 heading into halftime.
Delta cut into the deficit a bit in the third quarter, which was a good offensive frame for both sides. Union shot 6 of 9 in the quarter while Delta went 6 of 14 but made two late 3-pointers.
As it turned out, that was the beginning of a 10-2 run for the top-seeded Rabbits to cut their deficit to six with 6:49 remaining.
Eventually, Delta cut the lead to just one on a putback layup from Joslyn Christiansen as the Delta crowd, which came from over two hours away, started to get deafening, and then the Rabbits tied it with just 2:30 remaining.
But Union’s Halle Oakey came up absolutely clutch, making five free throws down the stretch to lift the Cougars to the win.
“We’ve played from behind a lot this season. We said that at the locker room at half, but there has not been many chances to be up at half,” said Union coach Camie Oakey.
“We knew that Delta would make a run, we knew we just needed to stay positive and happy. They’re the No. 1 team for a reason. It’s all about the next play. That’s been our motto this year.”
No. 8 Union will move on to play the winner of LCA and Canyon View in the semifinals at SUU.
“Its all about the girls and how hard they work and how hard they play,” Camie Oakey said. “They want it worse than any group I’ve ever coached, and they believe it.
“I think early in this season we went through some growing pains learning how to play the tougher competition and struggled. They just did not give up. We wanted and did expect to make it here. It’s really fun to see it come to fruition.”
Grantsville 42, North Sanpete 38
Thursday’s quarterfinal between Grantsville and North Sanpete was a tale of two programs with very different recent history.
Grantsville was the underdog but was looking for its fourth straight semifinal appearance, while North Sanpete has not been to the semifinals since 2014.
The underdog came out on top, as Grantsville won, 42-38 behind a strong start.
The first quarter wasn’t exactly what everyone was expecting as the No. 7 seeded Grantsville came onto the court on a mission.
Grantsville jumped out to an 8-0 lead the first three minutes of the game, rattling the Hawks, who have not been behind much at all this season.
The Hawks called a timeout to regroup and it was a 7-7 tie the rest of the way in the frame, though North Sanpete didn’t cut into its deficit at all and trailed 15-7.
The second quarter was a defensive slugfest, but North Sanpete was able to cut into the lead of the Cowboys shot by shot, thanks to the trio of Mariah Schlappi, Aydree Jacobsen, and Elsie Bailey, who scored 15 of the Hawks’ 19 points in the quarter.
At halftime, the score was 22-19 in favor of Grantsville.
The Hawks were able to get to the line in this game, which helped keep them in it, as they shot 6 of 11 in the first half compared to no free throw attempts from Grantsville in the first half.
Grantsville was led by a strong group contribution on the offensive end, with seven players scoring in the first half, led by Kamry Allen.
“We’ve been able to rely on our depth all season long. That’s how we play,” said Grantsville coach Chase Boydston. “It just really shows how hard they work and its great because we can really rely on anyone to score when we need to and get into a comfortable rhythm, so that’s just a credit to them and the work they’ve been doing.”
Offense was a struggle to begin the second half. After two free throws to begin the third quarter for Grantsville, only one point was scored over the next four minutes of game time.
Grantsville managed only seven points in the quarter but was able to contain the usually potent Hawk offense to just five to extend their halftime lead to five with a 29-24 lead by the end of the third quarter.
It was the same story in the fourth quarter, with Grantsville scored just four points and North Sanpete only two until just four minutes remained in the game.
Grantsville decided it either needed to get going offensively or just keep hounding the ball defensively.
It did both, and While also getting Schlappi, Bailey and Savannah Christensen to foul out.
In the end the old basketball power upset the No. 2 Hawks and moved on to its fourth straight semifinals, winning 42-38.
“It was huge to be able to get those players out of the game,” Boydston said. It just shows that our preparation and strength of schedule early on really helped us stay level headed and to understand situations to where good players like those in foul trouble can be attacked and get them out of the game."
Grantsville will now play region rival Morgan in the 3A semifinals at the SUU for a spot in the championship game.
Morgan 62, Emery 55
In a battle of 3A girls basketball powers, it was an evenly matched game between Morgan and Emery on Thursday in the state quarterfinals.
Morgan was looking for its first semifinal appearance since winning it all in 2023, while Emery was looking for its third straight appearance.
In an extremely close game, the Trojans used a strong third quarter to gain some separation and then held on for the win.
In the first quarter the teams exchanged blow for blow, with the largest lead being five by the Trojans. It was a defensive quarter as the teams combined to shoot only 6 for 22 from the field, leading to the low score of 12-10 in favor of the lower-seeded Trojans. Both teams shot below 31% for the quarter.
The second quarter was even closer, as Emery won it, 19-18 to trim its deficit in half. It was a story of free throws for the Spartans as nine of their 19 points came at the line.
The Spartans focused their game down low as they struggled to shoot much from the field, while Morgan made three 3-pointers. That helped the Trojans create a 28-21 advantage, but that lead quickly evaporated in a flurry of mistakes by the Trojans, as the Spartans rattled off a quick 8-2 run to end the half in the last minute to cut the Morgan lead to a score of 30-29.
In a very defensive and tough third quarter, these two rivals gave everything they had. Emery knew that it needed to limit Makayla Williams, as she was up to 18 points midway through the quarter, but that’s when Zoe Rockenfield took over.
With two minutes left she made a 3-pointer, then a tough layup and then another shot from deep to give Morgan a 47-39 lead going into the fourth quarter.
But Emery didn’t go away, as it opened up the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run, but Rockenfield — who had four fouls the whole quarter — and the Trojans were clutch from the foul line to stave off the Spartans.
“Last year they really gave it to us when we got here,” Morgan coach Sterling Mack said. “When we saw Emery on the schedule we were excited. Just know we gotta win by one.
“Emery is an amazing program knows what they are doing. We just have to come in and execute what we can on offense. Aleeyah Cowley for Emery is a dog in there. We had to sub in by committee and get stops when we needed to, and we did.”