SPANISH FORK — Maple Mountain's Liz Eaton stepped up to the foul line with 50 seconds left of a 51-51 tie basketball game against Springville, needing to make just one to put the Golden Eagles ahead.

And she missed them both.

But as life sometimes allows, she got a second chance — and took advantage.

Eaton finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals — but none of her points were bigger than a pair of freebies she knocked down with nine seconds left to lift the Golden Eagles by their Region 8 rival Red Devils 53-51 Friday night at Maple Mountain.

"I just felt like I wanted to melt into a puddle. It felt so good," a clearly more relaxed Eaton said after the game. "I almost forgot to play defense because I was so overjoyed. But I got back.

"With the past free throws after I missed them, I realized I needed to relax and I'd be fine. I've shot these millions of times. I had to remind myself that I was fine."

Nicole Heyn added nine points, six rebounds and three steals for Maple Mountain (12-2, 4-1 Region 8), which led 13-11 after one quarter but fell behind and couldn't regain the lead for nearly 18 minutes.

Springville (13-2, 4-1) took a 15-13 lead on Savannah Sumsion's layup in transition with 7:19 left in the half. The Red Devils then used a 4-1 run to go up 21-16 on Sumsion's steal that she dished to Lydia Austin with 4:43 remaining in the second quarter.

Maple Mountain attempted to cut into the lead through the next two quarters but Springville did just enough to hold a four-point edge into the fourth quarter.

That's when the Eagles came alive.

Eaton started a run with a layup at the 6:28 mark of the final period, then Heyn bombed a 3-pointer 20 seconds later to tie the game at 43-43. Lily Jex's 3-pointer from the wing with 5:30 on the clock gave Maple Mountain its first lead since early in the second quarter, and the Eagles capped an 8-0 run on a free throw by Eaton.

"I thought she did a nice job tonight of balancing things out," Maple Mountain coach Cory Green said of Eaton, the younger sister of BYU star Lexi Eaton Rydalch. "She took the game on her shoulders and was fearless when she needed to be, and she got her teammates involved in the second half when she needed to."

The Red Devils tied the game with 2:27 remaining as Olivia Park stole an inbounds pass and scored on a reverse layup to tie the game at 49-49, and neither team led by more than two points the rest of the way.

Park led Springville with 19 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Sumsion finished with 13 for the Red Devils.

After the Eagles pulled ahead by making 2 of 4 free throws down the stretch, Park again tied the game at 51-51 on a smooth jump shot with 59 seconds on the clock.

That set up Eaton's clutch free throws to pull the Eagles into a tie for first place in Region 8 with the previously unbeaten Red Devils.

"We just wanted patience. I think that was big," Green said of his team down the stretch. "We're a good offensive team, and we're pretty confident. But at times, that leads to some impatience on the offensive end. We just wanted some patience, and to reinforce that it was a close game and the turtle wins the race."

Jex finished with eight points and four steals for Maple Mountain, which got four points and five rebounds from MiKayla Hubbard, whose mismatch down low Eaton called the key to the game.

"That got us to calm down, to go in and out and get those cuts right by the post," Eaton said. "We got some easy layups, and it helped us relax."

The two teams will meet again in the final game of the regular season Feb. 16 at 5:15 p.m. at Springville.

"It's always fun to play Springville," said Eaton, whose older siblings all played for the Red Devils. "It's also fun to win, too. We've played with them a lot on club teams, and we totally respect them. It makes the win more valuable when you can beat a good team like that."

BOY'S BASKETBALL

Lone Peak 56, Pleasant Grove 53 — At Pleasant Grove, Tyson Doman hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to help the Knights escape with the road win in Region 4 play.

Frank Jackson led Lone Peak with 20 points, and Chad Pollard added 10 for the Knights.

Brody Childs paced Pleasant Grove with a game-high 21 points.

Timpview 76, Corner Canyon 69 — At Timpview, Gavin Baxter had a game-high 21 points, and Jordan Sagers poured in six 3-pointers for 19 points to help the Thunderbirds pull away from the Chargers in a pivotal Region 7 contest.

Levi Wilson added 13 points for Timpview, which got 12 points from AJ Bollinger.

Brayden Johnson led Corner Canyon with 20 points, and teammate Braxton Coon added 19.

Contributing: Matthew Glade, Ben Schroeder

Related topics