High school girls basketball: Copper Hills starts strong, outlasts Farmington in 6A playoffs

No. 7 Copper Hills led from start to finish, defeating No. 10 Farmington 41-30 in the second round of the 6A state playoffs on Thursday.

The production was spread evenly up and down the lineup for Copper Hills, with Abby Bush and Ella Creer leading the way with 10 points apiece.

“We had a phenomenal defense in the first half and only held them to seven points. You have to give props to Farmington in the second half for coming out and picking up the intensity,” said Copper Hills head coach Morganne Madsen.

“I’m really proud of our girls for taking it inside and going to the hole. I just think collectively as a team, everybody came in, played a part, stayed composed under pressure to see the game out.”

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Copper Hills started off the game on a 7-0 run and took a 17-7 lead into the halftime break. Farmington made some adjustments during halftime and came out in the third quarter with added intensity and focus, making things uncomfortable for Copper Hills and gradually continued to cut into the deficit.

“Farmington just started to knock down some big shots, player after player. We talked about just staying composed, being confident in their game,” Madsen said.

“We can’t play to what Farmington was doing but going out and executing what we do. We continued to play hard on defense, closed out the shooters, boxed out and limited their second chance opportunities."

Ultimately, Copper Hills made the stops when it needed to and converted on its opportunities down the stretch to pull out the win.

Madsen knows that if her team wants to make a deep run in the tournament, it will need to continue to come together as a team and be ready for the tough teams the group is bound to face as it moves deeper into the playoffs.

“Going forward we just need to continue to find confidence in the game and do it as a team,” Madsen said. “We can’t do it alone. We need to continue sharing the ball, box out as a team and do the little things that we’ve been practicing and execute well as a team.”