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TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — Cheyanne Brown finished with eight points, three rebounds and two steals in Springville's girls basketball quarterfinal game at Salt Lake Community College.
That was hardly her biggest contribution.
The junior wing drew the assignment of guarding 6-foot-2 Judge Memorial freshman Vanessa Austin, one of the more dominant post players in the state.
She did that job perfectly.
Lydia Austin scored a game-high 20 points, and Springville advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals with a 57-46 win over the Bulldogs to move into Friday's semifinals.
"She's a beast, but I knew I had to defend her for my team and do my best," Brown said of Austin, who had 10 points and four rebounds for the Bulldogs. "I just had to stay low on defense and play tough defense because I knew she was a great player."
Brown's undersized defensive effort on the Judge post made Vanessa Austin work for every point she earned. The freshman had three fouls by halftime and picked up her fourth in a chippy third quarter of a game that totaled 36 fouls.
"Cheyanne Brown had the best defensive game she's had her whole career," Springville coach Cami Oakey said. "She has speed; she was outsized in height and weight, but she has speed. Chey's extreme smart and athletic, and she was able to defend her and get her frustrated."
Vanessa Austin posted up for a bucket to give Judge its first lead of the game at 20-18 with 2:53 left in the half. Ali Monson, who finished with 10 points and three assists, tied the game on the next possession for Springville.
The Bulldogs took a 24-22 advantage into the break, thanks to Grace Nakamura's only 3-pointer of the half.
Springville 57, Judge Memorial 46
SPV: Monson 10; Fredrickson 4; Sumsion 8; Austin 20; Park 3; Miyasaki 8; Sorenson 4. JM: Ellis 9; Austin 10; Shubella 8; Nakamura 8; Tarver 9; Garcia 5; Kendall 1.
Alta 51, Highland 36
ALTA: Thompson 9; Vawdrey 1; Walbeck 4; M. Martin 14; K. Martin 14; Blackner 9. HIGH: Haavili 6; N. Tonga 7; Olevao 2; Machon 9; Wilson 2; Lotubai 2; Debow 6; F. Tonga 2.
The Red Devils (21-2) rallied together behind Lydia Austin and fellow guards Monson and Olivia Park. The latter two seniors combined for 13 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to keep Springville's dream of returning to the state tournament's latter rounds alive, a season after falling in the first game to eventual champion Sky View.
"They're resilient, and they don't want to give up," Oakey said. "They want this so bad. Last year, they lost in the first round, and they walked out of the gym so motivated for this year.
"Whether they make it to Saturday doesn't matter. They want to win."
Brown knocked down back-to-back jumpers in the final 50 seconds of the third quarter to give Springville a 40-37 edge going into the final period. Her performance sparked Lydia Austin, who scored 14 of her points after the break.
"I love Cheyanne; she's so fun to play with," Austin said. "She stepped up so big for us, and shut (Austin) down.
"When she guards me in practice, it's the hardest person on our team to score against."
Judge's Vanessa Austin fouled out with 7:30 in the game, going to the bench with seven points and six rebounds as Springville used a 4-0 run to go up 44-39 on Lydia Austin's jumper with 6:50 remaining.
The Red Devils never trailed again, making 11-of-12 free throws in the final 4:30 to clinch the win.
"I don't care how tight it is at this point in the year," Oakey said. "Every team is here to win. It's their last hurrah of the season, and they are all going to bring their best game."
ALTA 51, HIGHLAND 36 — At SLCC, Mariah and Kemery Martin each scored 14 points to help the Hawks pull away from the Rams in their first 4A quarterfinal since moving down a classification at the end of last year. "They're just ready to play. They see the 4A and they want to compete and bang around with the 4A teams," said Alta coach Elizabeth Gustafson, whose team played all-but one game against 5A schools during non-region play. "This team has never been 4A before, and they've got new competition, new people to watch, and they're ready to play with the 4A.
"It's the same sport, but there's a psychological part of the game coming down to 4A. Every sport at Alta is feeling the same thing … They're just thinking to go with it. Basketball is basketball, and they're here to play different teams and get some new experiences." Mariah Martin added a game-high 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks (19-3), who jumped out to a 20-12 lead at halftime from the elder Martin.
Highland cut the lead to two, 28-26 when Lana Olevao hit a layup in the final minute of the third quarter.
Then Kacey Blackner hit a triple on the other end, stole the in-bounds pass and dished to a wide-open Kemery Martin for the layup to end the third quarter at 33-26 and put the game away.
"I honestly wasn't even thinking about it," said Blackner, who finished with nine points and five rebounds after missing Monday's tourney opener with an minor ankle injury. "I just went with it, and played.
"My favorite thing is to surprise them with defense right off the bat."
Tatiana Thompson added nine points, five rebounds and three steals for Alta, which advanced to face Springville in a 4A semifinal Friday at 4:10 p.m.
"I think there's more opportunity. We all believe that we can win this time," Blackner said. "We know we can do it."
Marlee Machon led the Rams (18-5) with nine points, three assists and two steals. Olevao added 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
