Copper Hills shoots past Vikings, into 6A quarterfinals against Layton


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TAYLORSVILLE — Breaunna Gillen watched her 3-point attempt in the first half of Copper Hills’ Class 6A tournament opener against Pleasant Grove carom off the top of the glass.

A miss for sure … right?

Then the ball flipped through the net in a way that would’ve made the guys at “Dude Perfect” jealous.

“It’s crazy. I don’t know how that even went in,” said Gillen, who smiled in recalling the make. “But it was fun.”

Gillen scored a game-high 20 points and Amberly Lazenby added 12 points on four 3-pointers to lead Copper Hills to a 66-25 win over Pleasant Grove in the first round of the 6A state tournament Tuesday at Salt Lake Community College.

“Sometimes you just make shots,” Copper Hills coach Ben Morley said. “We’re the type of team that sees a few shots go down, and our confidence builds and our defense feeds into it from seeing our shots fall.

“I feel like we haven’t shot the ball the last few weeks, so we did a lot of work to get that rhythm back and make sure our spacing issues were fixed. I don’t know what to say other than to shrug my shoulders.”

Gillen’s circus-shot three from the right wing paced a 21-7 run to open the game, and the Grizzlies (21-2) cruised to a 40-17 halftime lead with a 6-of-12 effort from 3-point range. The junior team captain had 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in just 13 minutes of play in the first half.

“We maybe didn’t need it in this game, but to win the tournament, you need a little luck,” Morley said with a laugh. “That was one of those shots — and Breaunna will be the first to admit it — where she got a little lucky.

“That’s the game. It’s high school girls basketball, and it’s so much about momentum. You stop runs of your opponent, and find ways to feed momentum of your own.”

The Grizzlies advanced to face Layton (15-6) in Thursday's quarterfinals. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. MST in Taylorsville.

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

Eva Ongoongotau led Pleasant Grove (6-16) with eight points, and Sydney Valgardson added six points with nine rebounds for the Vikings.

Copper Hills forced 15 of its 26 turnovers in the first half, and also played turnover-free ball itself while shooting 47 percent from the field to take the commanding lead into the locker room.

In many ways, the Grizzlies look like the 6-15 underdogs to the Vikings’ state leaders.

“It starts in practice; we knew we had to come out strong, and we wanted to set a tone for this game and the rest of our games,” Gillen said.

After the break, it was more of the same for the Grizzlies, who shot a blistering 49 percent from the field and made 8-of-17 3-point attempts.

Pleasant Grove had just 21 points by the end of the third quarter, and resorted to playing many underplayed or junior-varsity players from a roster that features only two seniors.

Both teams, in fact, had emptied the benches by the end of the game.

Copper Hills played 14 players on the night, while Pleasant Grove coach Stephanie Nixon played 16.

Grizzlies point guard Eleyana Tafisi scored five points with six assists with just one turnover to pull away for good.

“That’s one of the unsung heroes of the first half,” Morley said. “She had five assists in the first half, and her ability to break down the defense and her vision in finding her teammates.

“Credit to Breaunna and Amberly for making those shots, but a lot of it was making the extra pass.”

Layton 62, Kearns 24

At SLCC, Kaitlyn Viator scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half, and the Lancers emptied their bench and played 17 players while running roughshod to a 62-24 rout of the Cougars.

Eleven other players scored for Layton (15-6), led by Kamryn Black’s eight points off the bench.

“Everyone was behind everyone and cheering,” Layton coach Van Price said. “Some of those girls are freshmen, and don’t get to play a lot of varsity time. Some of them were coming back from soccer trips, too.

“This next round game is going to be a crazy thing, and I don’t think people look at us having a chance. But to come into this tonight … we’re going to need everybody in the next game.”

The Lancers opened the game on a 29-4 run, holding the Cougars without a field goal for the first half of the second quarter en route to a 36-7 halftime lead.

A team that ended the season with double-digit losses to Fremont and Clearfield had found its mojo.

“It’s state,” Price said. “Both of those games, regardless of result, we were going to finish second (in region play). I think a little lackluster got off a bit.

“The state tournament is a different thing. You’ve got to be ready … and I think they were ready tonight.”

They did it by forcing 15 first-half turnovers to just five given up, and out-rebounding the Cougars 20-8. Kearns made just one field goal in the second quarter, and two in the first half. Ruby Maiava led the Cougars (6-16) with 10 points, and Lucy Tuigamala pulled down 11 rebounds for Kearns.

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