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TAYLORSVILLE — In a flash, Copper Hills’ 12-5 lead against Lone Peak in the first quarter of a Class 5A state quarterfinal was gone.
The Knights used a 10-2 run and sprinted to a 17-12 second-quarter lead en route to a 21-16 halftime advantage.
But the Grizzlies never panicked — even the underclassmen.
“We are always prepared for that,” Copper Hills sophomore Breaunna Gillen said. “In practice, our coaches put us in drills down two or down three. We know that we’ve got each other’s backs.”
Copper Hills didn’t retake the lead for good until two minutes remained in the final period, but the Grizzlies got 17 points from Lenisi Fineanganofo and held off the Knights 56-43 Wednesday at Salt Lake Community College to advance to the state semifinals in consecutive seasons.
“We never give up. That’s the one thing about us,” said Gillen, who had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. “We come back fighting, and we’re a team that never wants to give up.”
Fineanganofo cut the deficit to three on a jumper in the final seconds of the third quarter, and Gillen helped the Grizzlies (21-3) reclaim a one-point advantage four minutes later as both teams exchanged buckets.
Lone Peak’s Rachel Richards tied the game at 44 apiece with a pair of free throws with 2:09 left in the game. But Taela Laufiso went to the other baseline just 10 seconds later for a layup, and the Grizzlies never trailed again.
“It helped that we played them in our non-region schedule, and they had a five-point lead going into the fourth quarter,” Copper Hills coach Ben Morley said. We knew we had been there before against this team. They just don’t quit.”
Copper Hills made 10-straight free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win. Gillen made four, Laufiso made four and Fineanganofo made four.
Emma Clark led Lone Peak (10-13) with 16 points, and Savannah Flanary added 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Brooke Peterson added seven points for the Knights, who upset top-seeded West in Monday’s opening round.
“We made our free throws, made our shots down the stretch, and played great defense,” Morley said.
American Fork 51, Fremont 38 — At SLCC, Taylor Moeaki scored a game-high 23 points with four steals and the Cavemen held Fremont to 15 points in the second half to pull away for the win.
“It’s so good to come into these games and advance farther finally,” Moeaki said. “That was definitely a motivator. They’re well coached, and they played well. But this feels good.”
Taylor Franson added nine points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals for American Fork (23-1), and Savanna Empey had nine points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Moeaki score 17 in the first half as the Cavemen held a 29-23 lead at halftime, despite not making a 3-point shot.
“When the shots aren’t falling on offense, we put a lot of emphasis on defense,” Moeaki said. “That happened last game, too, so we’re prepared to focus on the defensive end if the offense isn’t always coming.”
But the Region 4 champions, who made just 1-of-18 from distance, used a defense to clamp down on an offense that failed to score 40 points just once during the regular season.
“We’re going to put pressure on and see how you handle it,” American Fork coach Corey Clayton said. “We did a few things differently, but mostly it was just pressure. Nobody likes pressure. Michael Jordan doesn’t like pressure.”
Viewmont 54, Bingham 37 — At SLCC, Mercedes Staples totaled a game-high 17 points to go along with seven steals and five assists as the Vikings thumped the Miners to move into Friday’s semifinals.
Staples had two of the Vikings’ four triples during the third quarter, when Viewmont held the Region 3 top seed to eight points to pull away for the win.
Megan Carr piled up 15 points, 11 rebounds and two assists, and Grace Johnson supplied nine points, five rebounds and three assists for the Vikings (20-3).
Maggie McCord and Aimee Dunn each scored seven to lead Bingham (17-8).
Sky View 69, Pleasant Grove 40 — At SLCC, Kaylee Carlsen poured in 26 points to go along with five assists and five steals as the Bobcats routed the Vikings.
Pleasant Grove made the first three of the game, which fired up Carlsen to tie a season high in scoring.
“We are all very competitive, and if they start before us, we want to come back,” said Carlsen, who made four 3-pointers.
Hunter Krebs supplied 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Bobcats (20-3), which won their 18th-straight game.
Sadie Nixon led Peasant Grove (14-9) with 16 points, and Sara Hamson grabbed 15 rebounds for the Vikings.
Copper Hills 56, Lone Peak 43
LP: Clark 16, Flanary 12, Weichere 5, Richards 4, Peterson 7, Larsen 4.
CH: Gillen 11, Fineanganofo 17, Gasu 2, Laufiso 10, Larsen 9, Tafisi 7.
American Fork 51, Fremont 38
Fre: Palfreyman 4, Doxey 4, Peterson 2, Lerohl 14, Mesia 1, Karlie 2, Larsen 2, Torman 9.
AF: Franson 9, Stephenson 2, Empey 9, Moeaki 23, Farnsworth 7, Bishop 1.
Viewmont 54, Bingham 37
VM: Carr 15, Page 8, Sorenson 3, Staples 17, Johnson 9, Hogge 2.
BM: Cloward 2, Dunn 7, Makuei 5, Tupea 5, McNicol 6, Angilau 5, McCord 7.
Sky View 69, Pleasant Grove 40
PG: Valgardson 6, Nixon 16, Hamson 5, Brown 13.
SV: Patty 5, Monson 2, Krebs 19, Carlsen 26, Hale 8, Stuart 3, Shumway 2, Harper 4.
