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TAYLORSVILLE — The Salem Hills girls basketball team wasn't very happy going into the locker room down 38-33 to Skyline in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A state tournament.
Jane Nelson made sure they had something to celebrate after the break.
"Basically, we knew what to do, and we just had to dig deep and work harder," Nelson said. "I think the entire time, we knew we could do it."
Knowledge is power.
Nelson scored 12 of her 18 points in the third quarter, and Lauren Gustin had a game-high 34 points, as the Skyhawks used a 26-point third quarter to down the Eagles, 73-65 on Wednesday afternoon at Salt Lake Community College.
"That was a really good third quarter," Nelson said. "I think it just showed how tough our team is, and how we can dig deep and overcome those deficits."
Gustin added 16 rebounds and Nelson dished out three assists for Salem Hills (17-6), which advanced to the semifinals Friday at 2:30 p.m. at SLCC.
"It was so much fun," Gustin said of the third quarter. "I was happy to see everyone score, and get that scoreboard up.
"I felt like we just knew that could've been our last game, so I just picked it up and we went as hard and as fast as we could. I don't think we've ever played that hard."
Nelson and Gustin combined for 20 of the team's 28 points in the third quarter while the Skyhawks held the Eagles (13-11) to just eight points in that period.
Much of the change came from Nelson, both on the offensive and defensive end, according to Salem Hills coach Kyle Francom.
"Jane Nelson is one of the most phenomenal leaders and players that I've ever coached. It baffles me that she doesn't have a scholarship offer," Francom said. "I know her knee injury derailed her recruiting, but I'm looking at girls who have signed, and thinking this girl is a Division I player, a great person, and one of the best leaders I've ever been around."
Hannah Anderl put the Eagles up 29-19 on a 3-pointer with 5:47 left in the half. But the Skyhawks chipped the lead to one, 32-31 on Sadie Hodgson's triple with 59 seconds to go before halftime.
Madison Grange, who finished with a team-high 21 points for Skyline, capped a frantic final minute with a trey from the left wing to put the Eagles up 38-33 at the break.
"We got down 10 points in the first half, and the thing I'm most proud of is that we stayed together," Francom said. "A lot of times, teams will come apart. But we stayed together and stayed within our system. They did the right things and played the right way. I'm most proud of the resiliency in coming back from that."
The key change from the locker room was defense, too. Francom mentioned a commitment on the other end at halftime, and his team rallied on turning blocked shots into transition buckets, and the Skyhawks turned several outlet passes into quick, easy points around the rim.
"We ran a lot on offense, and I think that (third quarter) really kickstarted us into playing better shots," Nelson said. "It gave us confidence to play better defense, and I knew it would come through in the end."
Salem Hills outscored the Eagles, 8-0 on the fast break, and scored 17 points off turnovers.
Granger led Skyline with 21 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots, and Anderl supplied 18 points. Cameron Mooney finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks as the Eagles pulled within five points twice in the final 1:40.
"They've got a lot of great shooters," Francom said of Skyline. "They're young, too, and they're going to be a good team. It seems like every team in this tournament is young. But we just re-upped our effort on the defensive end."
Salem Hills 76, Skyline 65
SH: Lundquist 5; Gustin 34; Hodgson 4; Sampson 8; Nelson 18; Christensen 2; Neves 2.SKY: Mooney 11; Alvarez 2; Anderl 18; Grange 21; Papastamos 6; Jessop 7.
Bountiful 66, Mountain View 55
MV: Briggs 16; White 25; Openshaw 4; Hansen 7; Mounga 1; Jacob 2. BOU: Redding 24; Chidester 3; Larsen 8; Stahle 20; Larson 11.
Barrett Jessop capped a 9-2 to pull Skyline within 67-62 with 1:40 left in the half. The Eagles did it again on a 3-pointer from Anderl with 29 seconds remaining.
But the Skyhawks made 6-of-10 free throws down the stretch to hold the lead.
"I don't think I've ever been happier after a game just because we overcame such adversity in that game," Nelson said.
BOUNTIFUL 66, MOUNTAIN VIEW 55 — At SLCC, opposing coaches have known the name of Bountiful's Kennedy Redding all season.
They might want to add another name to the scouting report: Jaimee Stahle.
Stahle finished with 20 points and two steals, while Redding led all scorers with 24, as the Braves held off the Bruins, 66-55 in another Wednesday quarterfinal.
"I think towards the end, my coaches and teammates kept me up and gave me confidence," Stahle said. "I always had the feeling that we could do it.:
Bountiful (20-3) clung to a 35-31 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but opened the final period on a 13-4 run propelled by Stahle and Redding, who also had 13 rebounds and six blocks.
"Jaime came in for a huge force for us as a ninth grader," Bountiful coach Joel Burton said of the sophomore shooter. "To have her rise to the occasion, I think she gets excited with these kinds of moments. It fits right in with what she likes to do.
"She loves these kinds of moments."
Mountain View advanced to face Salem Hills at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the state semifinals after falling in the quarterfinals for the past three years.
"It's so exciting," Stahle said. "We've lost in the last few years in this round, and it's exciting to finally win again."
Mary Larson supplied 11 points, four rebounds and two assists for Bountiful.
The Braves made 13 free throws in the final 2:07 to hold off the hot-shooting Bruins, who scored 16 points including four 3-pointers in the same time span.
Tahlia White finished with 25 points to lead Mountain View, going 4-of-10 from 3-point range. Jalissa Briggs added 16 points and three steals, and Savannah Hansen seven for the Bruins (15-8).
The Braves also picked up their first-ever postseason victory against Mountain View.
"This was huge," Burton said. "There were two things we tried to use as a little motivation: getting to the semifinals, and that we had never beaten Mountain View in the playoffs. We took care of both here tonight, and it feels good to know that we got a couple of monkeys off our backs."
