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TAYLORSVILLE — It took Westlake’s girls basketball program eight years to win its first-ever state playoff game.
It took the Thunder two days to win their second.
Marissa Scoresby scored 14 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, and Westlake advanced to the Class 6A girls basketball state semifinals with a 54-47 win Thursday evening over Hillcrest at Salt Lake Community College.
“I feel great,” said Scoresby, who also had four rebounds and four steals. “I’m so excited for my school and for my team.”
Samantha Hester added 20 points and five steals for Westlake (17-7), which got six rebounds from Rian Fullmer and recorded 13 steals.
Founded in 2009, Westlake advanced to the first state semifinals in school history.
“Everything we do in the girl's program is one more piece of history,” Westlake coach Michael O’Connor said. “The school is excited, and we’re just going to keep going as far as we can and see what happens.”
It didn’t take long for Westlake to get going Thursday. The Thunder rolled to an 11-4 start, but the lead didn’t last long.
After Westlake’s fast start, Hillcrest took its first lead of the game at 18-17 on Annabella Jensen‘s and-one play with 5:04 left in the half. The Huskies stretched the lead to 20-17 after Jensen took a hard foul in the corner.
The senior leader shrugged off the hit, sank a pair of free throws, and led the Huskies to a 26-21 lead at halftime. Jensen hit the first shot of the second half to give Hillcrest a 28-21 advantage.
Jensen finished with 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Hillcrest (16-5), and teammate Cara Snowder added 13 points, 13 rebounds and two steals as the Huskies took a lead into the second half.
But Westlake came back.
“We were nervous. But we’ve been very good at coming back from deficits, and we were confident,” Scoresby said. “We knew we could come back.”
Scoresby scorched the nets with a three that pulled the Thunder within two, 34-32 with 2:27 left in the third. On the next possession, Hester tied the game from the free-throw line, 34-34.
After Hester tied the game from the free-throw line, Scoresby dropped another three to cap the Thunder’s 8-0 run and end the third quarter, up 37-34.
“(Scoresby) and Sam don’t quit,” O’Connor said. “I think we were 4 of 15 from three in the first half, and only had five in the second half off steals.
“We’ve got to be a little more patient, I guess, but our looks were better in the second half.”
Jensen drove through traffic and scored with a reverse layup with 5:38 left in the game, the Huskies’ first bucket since midway through the third quarter. Hillcrest kept it as close as three, when Amanda Means drained a triple with 3:04 remaining to pull within 46-43.
But the Huskies would get no closer.
As Hillcrest searched for a potential game-tying shot, Hester forced a steal with 1:30 remaining, and Scoresby iced the game by knocking down six-straight foul shots to finish 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.
“I just kept telling myself that I could do it,” Scoresby said. “I needed confidence, and I knocked them down.”
