Takeaways from the 1st day of the 6A girls basketball tournament


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TAYLORSVILLE — Chalk, not upsets, reigned supreme, and a few circus shots were made at Bruin Arena on the opening day of the Class 6A girls basketball state tournament Tuesday at Salt Lake Community College.

There were plenty of blowouts, beginning with Riverton’s dominant 68-52 win over reigning 5A champion American Fork in the first game of the day.

But there was also a bit of excitement as teams readied for an intense quarterfinal.

Here are three takeaways from the first day of the 6A girls basketball tournament.

1. Rock Chalk

The upper bracket of the tournament went straight chalk, with top seeds winning all four matchups, including dominant victories by Region 1 champ Fremont over Hunter and Region 2’s Hillcrest over Clearfield.

There was some excitement, like when Region 4 No. 2 seed Westlake rallied to hold off Herriman, 50-47, in the final game of the upper bracket. But chalk was the order through the morning — a stark contrast from the 5A tournament.

2. But did she call bank?

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

Northridge made five 3-pointers — including two banked shots — and didn’t always inspire a ton of confidence on offense. But the Knights got shots when they mattered, and they limited Cyprus to just four made field goals in the first half to pick up their first playoff win since 1997, 50-28.

The Knights (16-5) were the first lower-seeded team to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Not to be outdone, Copper Hills’ Breaunna Gillens flipped a bank shot from 3-point range off the corner of the backboard during the Grizzlies’ 66-25 rout in the first round.

3. Set for the quarterfinals

Upsets can make or break a postseason tournament. But when they don’t happen, then what?

You wait for the next round.

Thursday’s quarterfinal round in the 6A tournament should be filled with the drama of semifinals of years past, with higher seeds advancing from nearly every first-round game. Among the highlights will be a budding rivalry between Copper Hills and Layton, who both won by blowout Tuesday night.

But fans of basketball should tune in to Thursday’s quarterfinals, which will be streamed at live.ksl.com both Wednesday and Thursday beginning at 2:30 p.m. MST.

Full coverage can be found at preps.ksl.com.

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