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TAYLORSVILLE — Skyridge guard Ally Blackham walked over to inbound the ball for the start of the fourth quarter and a grin slowly spread on her face. It was in response to the fans in the crowd calling out her name but it just might have been in response to how well her team was playing, too.
Skyridge topped Murray, 67-52, in the 5A girls quarterfinals Thursday at Salt Lake Community College to advance to the first semifinal in the program's short history.
The Falcons had five players score at least nine points in the game, they outrebounded the taller Spartans, 35-29, and they shot 51 percent for the game. But early on, it didn’t look like it would be so easy.
Murray came out hot. The Spartans scored 14 points in the first quarter on 50 percent shooting and took a 26-18 lead midway through the second.
That’s when everything changed.
“Our girls understood they put a lot of hard work into this and there was no need to panic,” Skyridge coach Khalil Sikander said.
And Skyridge sure didn't.
Soon, the Falcons were on a 10-0 run and then a 21-7 run and then a 32-12 run. By the time the third quarter came to a close, the eight-point deficit had turned into a 12-point lead.
“When we were down, we just stuck to what we do best,” Sikander said. “We pressured, pushed the ball, knocked down open shot when we got open looks, post touches. All the things that we as a program discuss, we did from the second quarter on.”
The Falcons were 22-of-37 from the field in the last three quarters. And as they heated up, the locked the Spartans down. Murray hit just nine field goals in the second half.
Sikander credits his players for the in-game turnaround. He didn’t call a timeout to settle them down or give any type of rousing speech. It was the girls that made it happen.
“As a program, we really try to teach our kids a lot about leadership,” Sikander said. “We try to give them the reins. We want them to own what they put out on the floor. They owned that. That was them. That was them buying in.”
Marisa Bowman led the Falcons with 16 points and eight rebounds. Brooklyn Lundell scored 14 points for the Falcons. Keylee Melling added 11 and Nala Fainga had nine points and six rebounds.
As for Blackham, she scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds — a performance worthy of a smile.
“A lot of girls stepped up to the moment,” Sikander said.
