4A STATE: Hansen's buzzer-beater caps Mountain View's first-round rally

TAYLORSVILLE — Mountain View's Savannah Hansen had never played in a state tournament game, one of several Bruins with limited varsity experience coming into the season.

But with one second on the clock and the scored tied at 48-48 of the Bruins' Class 4A state basketball opener against Maple Mountain, the 5-foot-7 senior released a long jumper from near the top of the key.

She wasn't the Bruins' first option — that was leading scorer Tahlia White, with good reason. But she knew her shot was going in the whole time.

"I was pretty nervous, but I knew our team had put in so much hard work that we deserved to be in the next level," Hansen said. "I'm a nervous person, and I was nervous all week long.

"But I know when my shot's on, and I knew that was on."

Hansen's buzzer-beater capped an improbable comeback, and the Bruins finished on an 11-1 run to top the Golden Eagles 50-48 in the first round of the 4A girls basketball state tournament Monday morning at Salt Lake Community College.

White led the Bruins (16-6) with 20 points, and Jalissa Briggs added nine for Mountain View, which trailed 37-26 going into the final period.

"We had a close game like this in the season, and I told the girls we could expect a game like that at state," said Mountain View coach Alexis Kaufusi, the former Timpview High standout who made her postseason coaching debut. "But we'll take it.

"We don't have a lot of varsity experience, especially in close-game situations. We like to make it a little hard on ourselves, but we liked the challenge, and I'm just glad we pulled it out."

Nicole Heyn and MiKayla Hubbard each scored 11 points to lead the Eagles in the first half, which Maple Mountain ended on an 8-4 run in the second quarter to take a 27-23 lead at the break.

Maple Mountain (16-5) was playing without top scorer Liz Eaton, the BYU-bound scoring sensation who led 4A with 27.7 points per game. But it barely mattered in the first half, as Heyn scored the game's first five points.

Hubbard finished with 20 points, and Heyn added 13 for Maple Mountain.

The Eagles opened the second half with a standout defensive effort, not allowing a Bruin field goal until Allie Warner hit a jumper just under a minute into the fourth quarter. By then, the Eagles had claimed a 10-point lead and used every bit of the clock on each possession.

But the Eagles never panicked and put the pressure on with the press.

"We've done it in a few games, and a lot of times have to pull out of it," White said. "But we run it pretty well, and we made some big plays at the end to turn it around."

Hansen drained the second of back-to-back Mountain View triples to pull the Bruins within 37-43 with 3:43 remaining in the game.

Then Kaufusi sent her team into full-court press mode, and the Bruins responded to their advantage with a 6-2 run capped by Briggs' layup to pull within four, 43-47, with 2:01 on the clock.

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Live stream: 4A girls basketball state tournament

The UHSAA girls basketball state tournament tips off Monday at Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

But the change started on the defensive end, a facet Kaufusi credited to Bruins' cross-country star Warner, the 5-foot-5 sophomore sub.

"The kid will run 12 miles, come to basketball practice, then go run eight more," Kaufusi said. "She is a ball of energy, and I put her in because the team needed a spark. She did exactly what I needed her to do, and scored a couple of points.

"The hope is that we could run it at the end, which is what Allie is great at. We always struggle in the third quarter every game; if we score 10 points in a third quarter, I'm happy. But I'm glad we had the nice fourth-quarter turnaround with that sub."

Warner made the streak 9-0 with a trey from the right elbow that gave Mountain View a 48-47 lead with 1:12 remaining, its first advantage since the second quarter. Lily Jex tied the game for Maple Mountain on 1-of-2 free throws on the other end, but left 1:09 on the clock that set up Hansen's final shot.

"Everyone stepped up, and the whole team contributed," White said. "Everyone made a crucial play, and did their part and it led to a win."

BOUNTIFUL 59, MURRAY 33M — At SLCC, Kennedy Redding scored 17 of her game-high 27 points in the second quarter as the Braves (19-3) rolled by the Spartans (11-11) in their tourney opener. Redding, who started after suffering a concussion ahead of the final four games of the regular season, scored 17 of the Braves' 20 points in the second quarter as Bountiful took a 29-13 lead at halftime and never slowed down.

Jaimee Stahlee added 11 points for the Braves, who had seven players score.

Deja Frenchwood scored 10 points to lead Murray, which got eight points apiece from Shay Potter and Cassidy Howe.

SKYLINE 60, BONNEVILLE 44 — At SLCC, Madison Grange scored 11 points as the balanced Eagles bombed away with seven first-half threes to rout the Lakers.

Hannah Anderl added 10 points and Sarah Trela-Hoskins supplied 10 for Skyline (14-10), which finished with eight threes and led 19-5 after the first quarter.

Sam Filiaga scored a game-high 21 points for Bonneville, which got 18 points from Hannah Shore.

SALEM HILLS 66, TIMPVIEW 48 — At SLCC, Lauren Gustin scored a game-high 25 points as the Skyhawks cruised by the Thunderbirds and into the quarterfinals.

Jane Nelson scored 11 of her 17 points in the first half for Salem Hills (17-6), which will play Skyline at 5:50 p.m. Wednesday.

Gustin and Nelson each scored 11 points to lead Salem Hills to a 40-24 halftime advantage. The Skyhawks jumped out to a 13-5 advantage after the first quarter behind seven from Gustin, and maintained the lead through rebounding and fast-break points, courtesy of Nelson.

The 5-foot-8 senior Nelson gave the Skyhawks a 10-point lead on a jumper with 3:19 left in the half to go up 27-17. Timpview found its offense, but did just enough to keep up with the fast-paced style of the Region 8 runners up.

Freshman Shalyn Fano scored 16 points, and fellow frosh Jasmine Espinoza paced the Thunderbirds (11-11) with 13 points.

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