Measuring up: Pleasant Grove validates its top form with a 65-52 win over Lone Peak
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- Pleasant Grove’s Zuri Nordstrom lays the ball up in traffic during her team’s 65-52 win over Lone Peak on Tuesday. December 16, 2025
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- Pleasant Grove’s Tabitha Clark led all scorers with 20 points during her team’s 65-52 win over Lone Peak on Tuesday. December 16, 2025
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- Pleasant Grove guard Aaliyah Sikander ran the point for the Vikings and scored six points during a 65-52 win over Lone Peak on Tuesday. December 16, 2025
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- Pleasant Grove first year Coach Angela Villa instructs her team during a timeout of the Viking’s 65-52 win over Lone Peak on Tuesday. December 16, 2025
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- Pleasant Grove guard Zuri Nordstrom drives to the hoop to score two of her 13 points in a 65-52 win over Lone Peak. December 16, 2025
It’s been easy to peg the Pleasant Grove girls basketball team as a true powerhouse this season with the strongest validation of that assertion coming this past Tuesday night in a 65-52 Viking win over Lone Peak.
A dominant start out of the gate coupled with strong responses to runs made by the Knights late along with the requisite total team effort all combined to hand the Vikings their first win over Lone Peak since 2021.
“I didn’t know if we were where exactly we needed to be at this point, but after this game it gave me a really good measuring tool,” said first-year Pleasant Grove coach Angela Villa. “You have to go against the best to know where you’re really at, and so it was a really good measuring tool, and they’re where I need them to be right now.”
Indeed the Knights have proven to be one of the top programs in the state in recent years and are one year removed from winning a fourth straight 6A state championship, making them the ultimate measuring stick.
Turns out it didn’t take long for Pleasant Grove to prove it could measure up on Tuesday night.
From the opening tip on the Vikings took it to the Knights, forging a somewhat surprising 17-2 run at the start just before the close of the first quarter.
“It was huge,” Villa said regarding her team’s dominant start. “When you play a great team like that who is used to winning and knows how to come back, you have to set the tone. You have to be the team that comes out hot and more aggressive…So in practice we talk about the standard we need to set when we start a game. You have to come out strong and execute where we’re best…So I’m proud of them for doing it.”
A key aspect for Pleasant Grove this season, which was on full display throughout Tuesday’s big win over the Knights, is its overall strength at both the backcourt and front. From tenacious guard play provided by Zuri Nordstrom, along with sisters Aaliyah and Janiece Sikander to frontcourt play set forth by Angela Villa’s daughter, Sutton Villa, the Vikings truly have it all.
And then there’s senior wing Tabitha Clark, who truly does it all for the Vikings and led her team in scoring in Tuesday’s win with 20 points. Clark was good throughout, but was perhaps her most impactful when hitting consecutive 3-point attempts soon after the Knights had cut the lead down to eight during the opening minutes of the second half.
“She just puts points on the board,” Angela Villa said of Clark. “She’ll play great defense and rebound when I need her, but what she does every game is she’s a scorer. Making big 3s is her thing, and this is the first year she’s been able to play on the perimeter solely because we have Sutton Villa down low.”
As for Sutton, her presence was felt throughout the course of the game. Utilizing her superior 6-foot-6 frame effectively, she proved a huge road block downlow on the defensive end while allowing the Viking offense a lot of open space to operate on the offensive end while chipping in 12 points.
“She’s a gift to any team,” Angela Villa said. “The the No. 6 in the nation shot-blocker and a lot of people don’t know that. So having a true center on your team is the reason a lot of the girls wanted to come play at Pleasant Grove. They wanted to be in their natural spots…So girls love playing with Sutton because she’s a true center and knows how to take care of the paint and teams are terrified to go down low with her in there.”
Playing their natural spots quite well from start to finish on Tuesday where the aforementioned three primary guards, who were able to hit big shots from the perimeter while slashing the basket time and again to either score or dish out assists. But perhaps their biggest impact was made on the other side of the floor, at least according to their head coach.
“They’re menaces on defense,” Angela Villa said. “They’re a gift for our program, and a gift to girls basketball because they treat it like it needs to be treated, and that’s down-and-dirty defense. They love the scoring, but they’re relentless in getting defensive stops…They drive opposing teams crazy.”
All of it has fit together quite nicely for the Vikings, who are now 9-0 on the season while looking to win what would appear to be a very attainable state championship at season’s end.
“This team is magical,” Angela Villa said. “Every day I’m grateful for the gift that I’ve had to step in here as a first-year coach. The girls camaraderie is ridiculous and the seniors are true leaders, performers and doers. They’re All-stars and they’re all of the things…I don’t think there is a ceiling for these girls for what we have at every position. It’s just playing to our standard every game.”
