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SALT LAKE CITY — The Lehi Pioneers girls found themselves in the 5A semifinals for the fifth year in a row. But in the previous years they couldn't get over the hump, until Wednesday night.
Lehi rode their crisp ball movement and 14 points from senior Jamisyn Heaton to a 49-38 win to the 5A final on Saturday.
"Just an incredible opportunity for these girls to overcome that mental hurdle," Pioneers head coach Sean Seastrand said. "It just felt like this group was ready to take that next step, and I'm proud that they believed it was their turn to do it."
Lehi looked poised to pull away from Highland early after a strong defensive effort led to a 9-3 first quarter lead for the Pioneers, but the Rams — and more specifically sophomore Sosefina Langi — would not go down quietly. Langi tallied the first 7 points of the game for Highland as the Rams brought it within one score midway through the second quarter.
In danger of surrendering the lead, the Pioneers shifted into high gear and outscored Lehi 15-5 the rest of the quarter to hold a 27-17 halftime lead. To begin the third quarter, Heaton made her only two 3-point attempts of the night to help extend the lead.
The Rams made a few runs, but those and 15 points from Langi would not be enough as the Pioneers held on for the win.
No. 6 Springville vs. No. 2 Bountiful
The Springville girls continued to look better then their seeding implied as they completely shut down Bountiful for a dominating 41-21 win.
At times, the Red Devils' offense faltered, but the defense held the Redhawks below 8 points in every quarter and just to 6 points in the second and third quarter combined.
"Our girls have worked really hard all season, and as a team we really pride ourselves on defense," Red Devils head coach Holli Averett said. "We're always outsized in every game and our girls really work on the little things to make sure we hold teams in check."
The battle of the Red Devils and Redhawks got off to a rugged start with both teams' strong defensive efforts leading to a 8-7 score for Springville.
In the second quarter, Springville's offense finally clicked as the team began to pull away from Bountiful. Juniors Brooke Pennington and Kayal Porray combined for 15 points as the team took a 21-9 halftime lead.
Springville continued to dominate in the second half, with Pennington continuing to get it done on both ends of the floor. She finished with 13 points, three assists and one steal to help her team pull off the impressive upset win.
No. 1 Olympus vs. No 4. Bonneville
Bonneville boys shocked the state with their last-second victory over Alta on Monday, but the Lakers were unable to carry that same momentum into their semifinals game against the top-seeded Olympus Titans as they fell 60-43.
Olympus' size proved to be too much for Bonneville as the frontcourt of the Titans feasted inside. Senior and future BYU Cougar Anthony Olson scored 8 of his 10 points in the first half, while fellow senior Jack Wistrcill scored 28 points to help lift the Titans over the Lakers.
"We came out strong and ready to get the win so we could head down to Provo," Wistrcill said, speaking about the finals that will be played at BYU. "We've been thinking about this opportunity since we lost in the semifinals last year and I know this is my last shot, so I'm excited for Saturday."
The Titans were also able to get it done on the defensive end and held Bonneville to 30% from the field and 15% from 3-point range.
"I think these kids really play for each other and they have great chemistry that has carried us on both ends of the floor all year," Titans head coach Matt Barnes said.
Jordan Barnes had a strong night for the Titans and filled the box score with 6 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists in the win.
Olympus jumped out to a 20-4 lead a few minutes into the second quarter; and while Bonneville went on a run to close the deficit to 29-17 at the half, it would ultimately be too much for the fourth-seeded Lakers to overcome.
No. 6 Murray vs. No. 7 Woods Cross
Woods Cross boys looked sharp in a semifinal matchup against Murray Wednesday, with junior Mason Bendinger scoring 11 of his 19 points in the opening period.
Murray refused to go away in the game as Jaxon Smith poured in three 3-pointers in the first half; but the Spartans still trailed by six going into the halftime break.
Then the third quarter happened. The Wildcats outscored the Spartans 17-4 in the quarter and stretched their lead to 19 to pull away for the eventual 59-47 win.
"I thought it was a great team effort," Wildcats head coach Josh Margetts said. "We had a lot of different guys step up and make plays."
A lot of those plays were made on the defensive end for the Wildcats as they hounded the Spartans all game long. Only two players for the Spartans made more than two field goals, including junior Chudi Anosike's 21 points and senior Bowen Davies' 10 points. Woods Cross held Murray to just 1-of-10 shooting in the third quarter.
Although Bendinger wasn't able to have back-to-back 30-point games, he was more than thrilled with how the game played out.
"It feels incredible to have this opportunity with my teammates," Bendinger said. "I really trust them, and I know they have been a huge factor in my success."
