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TAYLORSVILLE — Skyline knew it needed to make a move and force as much chaos as they could in trying to overturn a second-half deficit against upstart Timpview in a Class 5A girls basketball state semifinal Friday.
Lucky for the Thunderbirds, they have Shalyn Fano.
Fano scored six of her 12 points in the fourth quarter, and Ella Popa had a game-high 14 points with nine rebounds and three assists to help Timpview hold off defending state champion Skyline, 56-49, Friday afternoon at Salt Lake Community College.
“Shalyn Fano is a monster,” Timpview coach Aimee Dorais said of Fano, who also had nine rebounds and three assists. “The things I asked her to do today, to be able to be assigned the toughest defensive assignment and to still finish on the offensive side shows her mental and her physical toughness.
“She battled. She really battled.”
After the battle, the celebrations commenced.
The Thunderbirds (20-4) advanced to Saturday’s 5A state championship, avenging last year’s loss to the Eagles in in a state semifinal.
Defensively, Fano also drew the assignment of guarding Skyline standout Cameron Mooney—and held her to seven points and six rebounds on 3-of-10 shooting.
“Skyline is an amazing team,” Pope said. “I have (club) teammates and close family friends on that team. They are amazing, and they beat us out last year.
“This shows how far we’ve come as a team.”
Jasmine Espinoza supplied 11 points, three assists and two steals for the Thunderbirds, and Madelyn Boulton finished with nine points and six rebounds.
Madison Grange led Skyline (19-7) with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, Kiana Eskelson added 12 points and five rebounds, and Kate Vorwaller chipped in 11 points of the Eagles.
Timpview ended the first quarter on a 9-1 run to take a 13-9 edge from the opening eight minutes. The Thunderbirds held Skyline without a field goal for the final 3:30 of the quarter.
The momentum continued in the second quarter.
Boulton drained a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the left wing to extend the Thunderbirds’ lead to eight, 20-12, with 5:56 left in the half. Timpview held Skyline’s sharpshooting tandem of Grange and Barrett Jessop to just four total points on 2-of-14 shooting in the first half, taking a 25-17 lead at the break.
Bolton led all scorers at the half with seven points and six rebounds, and Ella Pope added six points, four rebounds and two assists off the bench.
Skyline flipped the script in the second half.
Grange and Vorwaller came out guns blazing, scoring on six-straight possessions to pull the Eagles within three, 33-30, with 2:59 left in the third quarter.
“We all know that when we stay with each other as a team, we keep our composure,” Pope said. “One thing that we do as a team is try to challenge our teammates to go as hard as we can in every single practice. When we get back to state and get in those tough situations, it’s second nature to us.”
Timpview did just enough to stay ahead, and Ella Pope’s shot at the third-quarter buzzer kept the Thunderbirds ahead, 30-32.
The Thunderbirds then used several lengthy possessions, including back-to-back drives that ended in Fano’s finish from brilliant setups by Boulton and Espinoza, to kill off the game.
“They just wanted to get the job done,” Dorais said. “They understand the game of basketball … and how good of a team Skyline is. We talked about Skyline making runs, but continue to play your style of basketball.”
