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Murray 52, Viewmont 42
TAYLORSVILLE — It was supposed to be an easy victory.
What it became was a late-night grinder to open the Class 5A state tournament.
But, for Murray High’s girls basketball team, a win is a win.
Haylie Jensen had 16 points, and Ileah Beh added nine points and five rebounds to help the Spartans jump out to a big lead early and hold off Viewmont High, 52-42, in the final game of the opening round Tuesday night at Salt Lake Community College.
“We struggled obviously with the pressure, and weren’t clean with the ball," Murray coach Holly Gillette said after the late-night finish. "Too many turnovers. But we held on, and played solid enough defense to hold on. We feel like that is our biggest strength is our defense.
“We got the stops when we needed to hang on to it.”
Anna MacKay led the Vikings (9-13) with 13 points and two steals.
The Spartans (16-6) jumped all over Viewmont, leaping out to a 14-0 lead en route to a 19-3 first quarter.
By the time Adelai Moore threw down a reverse layup with just over a minute to go in the period, Murray had a 19-2 lead and refused to slow down.
The Vikings nearly tripled their first-quarter volume in the second, and still trailed 27-11 at the break.
And yet, Viewmont pressed and held the Spartans without a field goal for more than five minutes to open the second half. The Vikings cut the deficit as low as eight on Kierra Gunnell’s scoop shot with 2:51 left in the period, 28-20.
That prompted Gillette to use a timeout on a game where her Spartans led going away after mere moments.
And that woke up them up, at least for the moment.
“We haven’t been to state for a couple of years, so they haven’t played on this stage," Gillette said. "I think that rattled them a little bit. Then they threw the pressure, we turned the ball over and we had to call timeout just to pump the brakes a little bit. It got us refocused.”
Jensen and Moore each hit a three during a 7-3 run, and the Spartans were back in a limited amount of control.
MacKay forced a turnover and finished at the rim — with a foul — to open the fourth quarter for Viewmont, and the Vikings held Murray to one fourth-quarter field goal to pull within eight again, 49-41, with 2:31 to go.
From there, what was once a blowout became a war of attrition — and the Spartans survived by making 11-of-17 free throws in the final frame.
Murray will face Region 8 champion Skyridge at 2:30 p.m. MST in Thursday’s quarterfinals at SLCC.
Skyridge 72, Alta 33
Shooters gonna shoot.
Skyridge High’s girls basketball team nailed 11 3-pointers, including three each from Kylee Holland and Keylee Melling, as the Falcons cruised to a 72-33 win Tuesday night over Alta High.
Ally Blackham led Skyridge with 18 points, five assists and five steals, and Marissa Bowman added 12 points for the Falcons (20-2), who got nine points each from Holland and Melling.
“These girls have been up since 6 a.m. for the last three years. It’s fun to watch them play; they’ve been grinding for three years in a row, nonstop mornings, shooting clinics,” said Skyridge coach Khalil Sikander, whose team assisted on 14 of 25 field goals. “We just shoot. We’re a bunch of guards that want to go have some fun and shoot the ball.
“We’re just going to stick to it. If we’re hot, we’re hot. And if not, we’re not.”
Skyridge jumped out to a 21-9 lead early, as Melling banked in a 3-pointer with 6:43 on the clock in the second quarter to take an early advantage.
The Falcons shot 52 percent from the field — including 6-of-7 from deep — in the first half, finishing with a 36-17 lead at the break before holding the Hawks to four points in the first four minutes of the second half.
The Falcons never looked back.
“I honestly felt we were going to have early-game jitters,” Sikander said. “But we were just laser-focused. Our practice yesterday was intense — they played like it was the first practice of the year, and they came out the same way in this game.
“If you’re preparing, you’ll come out with confidence — and they prepared tonight.”
Ally Braithwaite had 11 points to lead Alta (8-14), and Eden Broederlow added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Hawks.
