Takeaways from the 1st day of the 5A girls basketball state tournament


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TAYLORSVILLE — Three region top seeds fell in the opening round of the Class 5A state girls basketball tournament Monday at Salt Lake Community College.

Region 8 top seed Skyridge, Region 1 top seed Roy and Region 7 top seed Corner Canyon all lost in the opening round of the tournament. The only other No. 1 seed, East from Region 6, had to use a 12-4 run to hold off upstart Brighton in its opening-round game.

“I’ve only been coaching for three years, but I honestly felt this year’s 5A was the best basketball in the state," Highland coach Kurt Schneider said. "When I look at all the teams, I could see it’s very possible.

“This isn’t a surprise to me. I think it’s a really deep group of 5A teams.”

In some ways, Timpview's 60-44 win over West was one of the few in-line matchups in the first game of the tournament.

Here are three quick takeaways from the tourney.

1. Top seeds tumble

Chalk did not reign on the opening day of the 5A tournament. In fact, Region 6's East was the only regional top seed to advance past the first day.

In just the second game of the day, Region 5 four-seed Box Elder stunned Region 8 co-champ Skyridge, 60-53. The Bees got a career-high from Emily Isaacson, including five 3-pointers, to secure the first of many upsets.

In the next game, Springville — which finished the regular season with just three wins — slowed the game down and stunned Region 5 co-champion Roy, 42-32. The Red Devils (5-18) advanced to face Skyline at 5:50 p.m. Wednesday.

In the penultimate game of the night, Highland (12-11) used a 3-point barrage from Olivia Beckstead and a 31-20 first half to hold off Region 7 top-seeded Corner Canyon, 51-45. Beckstead finished with 14 points, and Kaija Glasker had 17 points and seven rebounds in the win for the Rams, who will face Woods Cross (15-7) at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

2. Depth reigns in 5A

It's not always smart to look at regular-season success at tournament time.

Of the four "quadrants" in the opening round of 16, only East and Viewmont's quarterfinal matchup was an all chalk result.

The field is wide open entering the quarterfinals, with both Roy and Corner Canyon garnering support as favorites to win the tournament. Top-seeded East immediately becomes the most-hunted team in the field, while two-seeds Timpview, Skyline and Viewmont have optimism for a deep tourney run.

When the Vikings face East in Wednesday's quarterfinal, the winner could easily be pronounced as the favored team among the semifinalists.

Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

3. Clash of stars

In what looked to be the Game of the Day on paper, Region 8 co-champion Provo and reigning state finalist Viewmont went into their first-round game boasting two of the state's top scorers: Viewmont's Mercedes Staples and Provo's Lavender Briggs.

The hype lived up to the billing — but Viewmont saw a (defensive) star emerge in holding off the Bulldogs.

The Vikings held Provo to one field goal in the third quarter, limiting Briggs to eight points in the second half, to take the win.

The 6A state tournament opens at 9:30 a.m. MST Tuesday at Salt Lake Community College. Watch every game at live.ksl.com.

Read more at preps.ksl.com.

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