Girls basketball: First-year Farmington posts historic win; Corner Canyon pulls away from upset-minded Springville


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Farmington 56, Olympus 50

TAYLORSVILLE — A lot of time, effort and energy often goes into a new high school’s first playoff win.

Take Herriman High, which advanced out of the first round of the Class 6A girls basketball tournament Monday for the first time in the Mustangs’ dozen-year history.

It can be a process, filled with several senior classes that never make a tournament, gradually building up to competitiveness, and finally getting over the hump with a special player or two.

Farmington High wasn’t having any of that on Tuesday.

“No one really expected us to win, so we all thought to prove everyone wrong,” said junior Naomi Kehl in describing her team’s mentality. “Let’s go out and dominate.”

Delaney Baker had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Natalya Taylor added 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals as the first-year Phoenix razed Olympus High 56-50 to advance out of the first round of the Class 5A girls basketball state tournament Tuesday afternoon at Salt Lake Community College.

Kehl supplied nine points and five rebounds for the Phoenix (14-8), who out-rebounded the Titans 40-20 with a 17-2 margin on the offensive glass.

Yes, you read that right — 17-2 — and that was key.

“Rebounding is a huge part of the game,” Kehl said. “If you can get rebounds, it makes a huge difference. It helped us a lot.

“We like to rebound quick, then look for the fast outlet and try to get everyone down for quick layups.”

Taygin DeHart led Olympus (12-10) with 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists and five steals, and teammates Alyssa Blanck and Jackie Soltis added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

After struggling on the glass for a quarter and a half, Farmington found its rhythm inside and began to pull away. The post duo of Kehl and Baker scored on three straight putbacks, and Baker capped a 6-1 run to end the first half up, 26-17.

Baker, a freshman at the first-year high school, had 10 points and five rebounds by halftime of her first state tournament game.

Of course, no one had any experience playing in the postseason — at least, not in a Farmington uniform.

But by the fourth quarter, the Phoenix looked right at home inside Bruin Arena, holding the Titans scoreless from the field for nearly five minutes to turn a two-point lead after three quarters into a 49-41 advantage with 3:02 remaining.

“When the quarter started, we talked about how this is our game. We had to go get it, take it, and increased the pressure,” said Farmington coach Van Price, who led Layton to state titles in 2005 and 2016, and whose 474 victories ranks second in Utah High School Activities Association history.

“I think we had the personnel that could get up and guard them. It was the pressure we wanted.”

The Phoenix held Olympus to one point in the final quarter’s first four minutes, keeping the Titans without a field goal until Blanck got to the rim with 3:02 remaining.

By then, Farmington led 49-41.

Olympus cut the lead to as close as five, 53-47 on Blanck’s foul-drawing make with 1:18 remaining. But the Titans could get no closer.

“We had a bunch of new kids coming from different areas, and you just wonder how you are going to be,” Price said. “It’s tough to play in the first round, but, with a new team and a young team, I thought they handled themselves pretty well.”

Photo: Sean Walker, KSL.com
Photo: Sean Walker, KSL.com

Corner Canyon 62, Springville 48

If Corner Canyon High had any thoughts of last year creep in to the Chargers’ collective heads after Springville High jumped out to a 17-12 lead in the first quarter of Tuesday’s opening-round game, no one would’ve blamed them.

The Chargers were just a year removed from an upsetting 51-45 loss to Highland in last year’s 5A opener — the same day fourth-seeded Springville posted a 42-32 upset of then-Region 5 champion Roy High.

But the experienced Chargers knew what to do.

Utah signee Kemery Martin had 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Jaeden Vaifanua added 18 points and eight rebounds to help Corner Canyon pull away from the Red Devils, 62-48 and advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“Kemery can take over any game she plays in,” Corner Canyon coach Jeramy Acker said of Martin, who shot 9-of-18 from the field. “The most amazing part about her is when she doesn’t, and she gets other people going.

“With her, we’ve got a shot in every game because she’s that special. Utah is getting a player who is that special, and at the next level right now … We’re just glad we aren’t one-and-done this year.”

Brooke Lynne Galbraith scored 16 points to lead Springville (12-11), and teammate Kallysta Strong added 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Red Devils jumped out to a 17-12 lead after the first quarter, but no team led by more than a possession from almost the outset of the second.

Then the floodgates opened for the Region 7 champion Chargers (19-5).

Corner Canyon outscored the Red Devils 20-7 in the second quarter, paced by a 16-2 run that included Martin’s off-balance triple from the left corner that bounced high off the iron and dropped through the net to give the Chargers a 30-22 advantage with 2:29 left in the half, and Springville never led again.

“We had a little bit of last year creep in, and then we immediately addressed it,” Acker said. “Springville got up on us, we had a little timeout and we wanted to address it. We didn’t have to say much, because we’ve already gone through so much.

“We drilled this stuff in film and chalk talk and practice, and then the girls took control. That’s what I love about this team.”

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