1 / 11

Springville senior Ellie Esplin shoots a shot during the 5A quarterfinal game against Timpanogos at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

2 / 11

Timpanogos senior Summer Christensen gets fouled on a drive during the 5A quarterfinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

3 / 11

Springville senior Kayla Porray drives to the basket Springville senior Ellie Esplin shoots a shot during the 5A quarterfinal game against Timpanogos at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

4 / 11

Timpanogos senior Kate Dickinson shoots a shot Springville senior Kayla Porray drives to the basket Springville senior Ellie Esplin shoots a shot during the 5A quarterfinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

5 / 11

Springville senior Ellie Esplin drives to the basket during the 5A quarterfinal game against Timpanogos at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

6 / 11

Timpanogos senior Summer Christensen goes up for a shot during the 5A quarterfinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

7 / 11

Springville senior Kayla Porray drives to the basket Springville senior Ellie Esplin shoots a shot during the 5A quarterfinal game against Timpanogos at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

8 / 11

Timpanogos senior Summer Christensen goes up for a layup during the 5A quarterfinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

9 / 11

Timpanogos senior Katie Walker shoots a 3-pointer during the 5A quarterfinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

10 / 11

Timpanogos senior Raygan Peterson passes the ball during the 5A quarterfinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

11 / 11

Timpanogos senior Kate Dickinson shoots a shot Springville senior Kayla Porray drives to the basket Springville senior Ellie Esplin shoots a shot during the 5A quarterfinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

❮ ❯

OGDEN — BYU basketball coach Mark Pope likes to say, “Seniors are magic.”

Both No. 1 seed Springville and No. 8 seed Timpanogos start five seniors, and both sides had seniors who stepped up in Wednesday’s 5A girls state tournament quarterfinal game at the Dee Events Center.

For the Red Devils, senior Brooke Pennington scored 20 points, 11 in the fourth quarter, as Springville survived a late run to top the gritty Timberwolves 51-49.

“I hope we learned about composure,” Red Devils coach Holly Averett said. “I didn’t think we handled the last minute very well, but it was good for us to learn from those little mistakes with game management. Timpanogos really fought. They’ve got a good big (inside player), good shooters and seniors. We had those good moments where we kind of came back together and dial in on defense. I thought that was good for us.”

The Red Devils led by nine, 50-41, with 42 seconds to play after Pennington drove in for a score. Timpanogos senior Katie Walker dropped in two long 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds, her second bringing the T-Wolves within two at 51-49 with three seconds to go. The clock ran out and the Red Devils, the two-time defending state champions, survived and advanced.

Ellie Esplin added 16 points for Springville (22-2) and Kayla Porray contributed 12. The Red Devils thrived on their pressure, which forced 20 Timpanogos turnovers that resulted in a 25-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

Senior Kate Dickinson, a 6-foot-1 forward, had a monster game for the T-Wolves with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Summer Christensen had 13 points and Walker had eight of her 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Springville played well early and got out to a 10-2 lead, with four points from Pennington and a 3-pointer from Porray. It was 18-8 for the Red Devils after Espin splashed a 3-pointer but Walker matched her with a triple of her own and cut the deficit to 18-11 after one quarter.

Dickinson got loose inside and score seven points for Timpanogos in the second quarter, allowing the T-Wolves to keep pace and go into the halftime break down 28-21.

Esplin finished the first half with 11 points and Pennington scored nine for Springville. Christensen scored seven points for Timpanogos and Dickinson contributed seven points and seven rebounds.

Timpanogos outscored Springville 9-5 in the third quarter but Pennington score six straight points to open the fourth quarter and the Red Devils took a 39-30 lead.

“The good thing is we have multiple seniors,” Averett said. “All season long they’ve kind of taken their turns. I think they like it, too. They like all the pressure on them.”

The T-Wolves managed to trim the deficit to five a couple of times but couldn’t overcome the turnovers.

Springville faces the No. 4 Lehi-No. 21 Spanish Fork winner Friday’s semifinals. The other semifinal features No. 2 seed Bountiful and No. 22 seed Skyline, which upset No. 3 Timpview in the quarterfinals.

Timpanogos, which reached the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2014, finished the season at 14-9.

Newsletter