Defending 1A champion Rich never let Piute think it had a chance of an upset in their quarterfinal game Thursday at Salt Lake Community College.
The Rebels played like top dogs in jumping to a quick lead, and they never let up to claim a 53-20 win.
“Proud of how we got on them early,” said coach Cody Lundgren. “We handled their pressure and we got into the paint.”
Molly Weston scored 19 points and Paige Smith had 13 as Rich shot nearly 56% in the first half. The Rebels got the opening tip, quickly moved downcourt and scored with precision ball movement. Thus, they never trailed.
The lead was 10 points by the end of the first quarter and they doubled it by halftime. Piute’s only hope to recover was to start a third-quarter rally, but the Thunderbirds were limited by 2 of 21 shooting in the second half, and their anemic 3-point shooting (0 of 7) prevented them from creating any momentum.
Rich’s victory was easily the most impressive of Thursday’s action, and the Rebels improved their record to 20-5. After finishing Region 22 undefeated (12-0), the Rebels only earned a No. 4 seed at state, so they now must play top-seeded Panguitch at 4 p.m. Friday.
Lundgren said he was happy about how Rich controlled Thursday’s outcome from the opening tip.
“We outsized them, and we got good guard play,” he said. “We moved the ball really well. I have high hopes for us, but every night is different.”
Lundgren was particularly pleased with Weston, who made 7 of 11 shots, including five 3-pointers, as well as Braylyn Pugmire, who missed part of the season with an injury but frustrated Piute with five steals.
Rich’s supporting cast also included one 6-foot-2 post player (Madi White), who had three points and four rebounds in limited action.
There are three other players who stand 5-foot-10.
Piute shot just 22.2% (10-45) and only grabbed seven offensive boards because it was outrebounded 42-26.
Braylee Randall was Piute’s top scorer with six points, while Bostyn Randall had four points and also snagged eight rebounds.
Just a few minutes into Thursday evening’s 1A girls basketball quarterfinal matchup between top-seeded Panguitch and No. 9 Wendover, the Bobcats found themselves behind 8-0 and coach Nadine Owens looked down her bench for a spark.
She found one, but it was already on the court
Katie Hatch scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Panguitch rallied from its early doldrums and turned back Wendover 51-37 to advance to Friday’s semifinals.
“We can step it up if we have to,” Owens said. “We have a lot of players who have that ability. Katie really hadn’t done that, so I’m hoping this will be the start of something special from her.”
With its 12-11 record, Wendover came in a heavy underdog but Millie Hicks and Natalie Alvarez helped the Wildcats thrill their fans by getting off to a good start.
Unfortunately for them, Hicks got into foul trouble and that limited her availability as Panguitch clawed back to take a 16-10, although Wendover rallied to tie it up 18-18 at halftime.
Owens said she took her team to the locker room and tried to convey how strange things can happen in a postseason climate, especially at an unfamiliar 5,500-seat facility in the state’s largest city.
“We needed something to shake us up,” she said.
In effect, Hatch took over. She had 16 points in the second half and Panguitch also stepped up its defensive pressure, eventually forcing 28 turnovers.
Several of Wendover’s miscues led to fast-break points as Panguitch broke the 18-all tie with a 3-pointer 16 seconds into the third period and added another basket 30 seconds later.
That was the beginning of a 10-0 spurt, and the Bobcats didn’t stop. They outscored Wendover 25-4 in the third quarter and were never threatened.
Tayt Miller added 15 points and three steals for Panguitch, which benefited from a 21-14 foul differential. All five of Wendover’s starters finished the game with three personal fouls or more.
Hicks often seemed able to score whenever she wanted, but Wendover’s chance of rallying from a 21-point deficit was severely hampered when she was forced to the bench midway through the final period.
Hicks led Wendover with 17 points. Alvarez had 14, including three 3-pointers.
With the loss, Wendover dropped into the consolation bracket and will play Piute Friday at 11:30 a.m. Panguitch advanced to take on Rich in an interesting semifinal matchup at 4 p.m. at SLCC.
Wayne girls basketball coach Kerry Stevens wasn’t initially troubled when the 1A state tournament was moved from Richfield to the Salt Lake Community College gym in Taylorsville.
While he said it was nice that the original commute was less than an hour’s drive from Wayne’s Bicknell campus and his players could sleep in their own beds during the three-day event, Stevens didn’t become particularly concerned until Thursday, when his team appeared to have left its shooting stroke back home.
It took a while, but the Badgers eventually adjusted. Kira Peterson scored 11 points and AJ Van Dyke 10 as Wayne pulled away from Region 20 foe Valley and earned a 43-29 win in a quarterfinal matchup.
“I don’t know if it was jitters,” he said. “Give Valley credit. They were aggressive. It’s easy to blame it on nerves because every game is so important at state, but we’ve been here before and I just told the kids to be patient and things would go our way.”
It was Wayne’s second victory over the Buffaloes in the last three weeks and, not surprisingly, Stevens was concerned how the venue change would affect the outcome.
In the first quarter, it seemed there were as many air balls as points, and halftime statistics showed Wayne shot 20% from the field and Valley 15%.
As the region champ with an 18-3 overall record, Stevens expected more from his team, and it might have also had something to prove after earning the tourney’s No. 2 seed behind Panguitch despite beating the Bobcats 52-37 in December.
The Badgers eventually pulled away when Peterson got hot from 3-point range. She nailed both of her attempts in the second quarter as the Badgers built a 16-6 lead as Valley wasn’t hitting anything.
Wayne stretched the lead to 15 points (28-13), thanks to 53% second-half shooting, and that helped it repel the Buffaloes when they rallied behind Andee Anderson (10 points).
Maddie Cox and Jane Jennings also buried 3-pointers but it was not enough to overcome the margin.
“We knew they would make a run, but it (the lead) never got below 10 points,” Stevens said. “It feels good to gt this one out of the way.”
Valley, the No. 7 seed, fell into the consolation bracket, and will take on Whitehorse Friday at 10 a.m. Wayne stayed in the championship bracket and will meet Tabiona in a semifinal contest Friday at 5:30 p.m.
For the last week, all the Tabiona girls basketball team has heard and thought about has been the scoring prowess of Whitehorse’s Keiarra Martin, who entered Thursday’s 1A quarterfinal game averaging over 35 points per game.
With multiple defenders checking Martin, the Tigers held Whitehorse’s leader to 13 points on their way to a 46-35 win.
“We worked all week on guarding Martin and we talked a lot about it,” Tabiona junior Joy Gines said. “We had our two best defenders, Bella Gines and Khloie Pippy, on her all game and they stopped her, plus I thought our help defense was really good tonight.”
Martin had just six first-half points as the Tigers opened up a 23-17 lead at intermission. Joy and Isabella Glines each had eight points at the break for Tabiona.
While the emphasis in the week leading up to Thursday’s quarterfinals was slowing down the Whitehorse offense, coach Jake Fabrizio hammered the point home again at intermission.
“I am very proud of our girls,” Fabrizio said. “We knew they had a couple of really good scorers in Martin and Hannah Clark, and they are a team that can put up a lot of points in a quick hurry. I just kept telling the girls at halftime to just keep defending.”
As comfortable as the first half looked for Tabiona it was Whitehorse that got out of the gates quickly in the second half.
Lakyara Begay opened the scoring with a layup, and on the next possession, Maria Yellowman knocked down a 3-pointer, cutting the lead to 23-22.
The game remained tight through much of the third period with the teams exchanging baskets. A Maecie Hagman shot-clock beating basket put the score at 29-26 before Whitehorse’s Kaleigh Chee’s bank shot cut into the lead.
The Tigers then used a late spurt from a made 3-pointer and Hagman’s fast break layup to extend the lead to 32-26 after three periods of play.
The Tigers finally began to extend the lead when Adree Fabrizio knocked down a 3-pointer for a 37-30 advantage, though Whitehorse answered with a basket from Begay and a 3-pointer from Martin that cut the lead to 37-35.
Every time it looked like Tabiona was rattled, the Tigers just amped up the defense and the final minutes of the contest showed that.
Tabiona closed the game on a 7-0 run to earn a trip to Friday afternoon’s Class 1A semifinals, improving to 21-2 on the season.
“I thought our team played really good, especially defensively,” Joy Gines said. “That’s what Tabiona is known for and we just let the offense come to us.”
While it was the defense that rose to the occasion Thursday, Fabrizio said he has a bunch of talented two-way players who do what’s asked of them.
“All year we’ve had a couple of girls that have accepted their assignment to be defenders,” Fabrizio said. “With that being said, Bella and Khloie hit some big shots for us.”
In addition to Martin, Clark finished with seven points and six rebounds for Whitehorse, while Begay chipped in with six points and Chee led the team with six rebounds.