Here’s a recap of Tuesday’s 2A semifinals at UVU, with No. 4 South Sevier, No. 6 South Summit advancing to the 2A championship.
South Summit 47, Gunnison Valley 43
In a slugfest and grind it out type of game, No. 6 South Summit was able to outlast No. 7 Gunnison Valley 47-43 to advance to the 2A championship game.
“I’m so proud of the boys. It was a quick turnaround from yesterday to get to today and they did pretty good with our game plan. I am just so excited for them and the opportunity they have. It’s really a once in a lifetime opportunity for them and something they’ll look back on forever with their teammates and brothers,” said South Summit head coach Will Harris.
South Summit was led by Bill Harris with 16 points to go along with 3 three-pointers. Harris also went 3-4 from the free-throw line.
“In the end we just out gritted them. It came down to rebounds. It came down to defensive stops and when it mattered, we dug deep, and we found the way to win. We didn’t shoot great tonight. Bill had a great game, and he helped us get through some of that. Gunnison Valley also had a great gameplan so hats off to them,” added Harris.
South Summit shot 33% from the field and Gunnison Valley shot 45% from the field.
The difference in the game came from behind the 3-point line as well as South Summit’s ability to create turnovers.
South Summit went 6-12 from behind the 3-point line in the first half. Defensively, South Summit was very active, forcing Gunnison Valley into committing 16 turnovers.
To complete their somewhat miraculous run, South Summit will have to go up against a very strong South Sevier team that just knocked off top-seeded Kanab in convincing fashion.
Harris knows that it won’t be easy but has the belief in his team that if they can come with a good game plan and be able to carry that game plan out, he likes their chances.
“South Sevier plays hard. They are aggressive on defense, and they get after it. We’ll have to stop their big guy because he’s really good. We’ll have to get a good game plan for him and figure it out,” Harris said.
Harris knows that some of the boys might have some nervous energy heading in to the big title game and he will be encouraging them to just trust each other and continue doing what got them to this point.
“I think our biggest thing is just going into the championship game trusting what we’ve done all season and reminding them that we practice for this moment. If we play strong defense and hit our shot, there’s no one that can beat us,” Harris said.
Victory never tasted so sweet for No. 4 South Sevier. In a rematch of the 2A state championship game from a year ago, South Sevier dominated from start to finish, blowing past the defending champs top-seeded Kanab 61-39 to advance to the state championship for the second year in a row.
After losing to Kanab in the title game last year and dropping two more games to them earlier in the season, South Sevier no doubt had revenge on their minds.
“Getting to the state championship is the best feeling. Kanab is a great team. It was a battle at their place and a battle at our place. We were fortunate enough that we played as well as we did. I’m just really proud of our boys for fighting, executing the game plan to just how we wanted it,” said South Sevier head coach Carson Christensen.
South Sevier was led by standout Raidon Barney, who delivered a stellar performance 27 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 blocks.
“Kanab has great shooters, and they use them really well. We just said going in that we got to take that away from them. We have to make them go to Raidon and make them shoot over Raidon. He did a heck of a job tonight, especially with his help side defense,” Christensen said.
The defense was locked in all night long for South Sevier, holding Kanab to 39 points for the game on just 23% shooting.
“I don’t know that we have a set defense that we play. We kind of gear it towards each team that we play, and these boys just bought in, that’s the big thing,” added Christensen. “They buy in and they trust each other, which is big. They know that their other guy’s going to have their back, and they just play for each other which is so fun.”
South Sevier had its fair share of ups and downs all season long but now they return to the championship game, hoping for a different outcome this time around.
“They’ve executed every game plan after game plan to a T and they work hard. We thought there were going to be a lot of growing pains this year, but a lot of guys stepped up. We started the season off a little rough, but these boys trust each other, love each other and they’re playing just right at the right time,” said Christensen.