Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

The Springville girls basketball team called this “Revenge Week.”

And revenge is sweet.

The Red Devils — the No. 22 seed heading into the 5A state tournament — lost to No. 6 Maple Mountain twice during the Region 7 season by one point each time.

The revenge came in the second round on Thursday. Springville held the Golden Eagles without a field goal for more than two minutes in a crucial stretch of the fourth quarter and sophomore Bella Esplin made 4 of 6 free throws in the final 30 seconds for a 45-42 victory in front of a near-capacity

crowd in Spanish Fork.”We came in with confidence,” said Springville sophomore Halle Hall, whose defense on Maple Mountain standout Leah Bailey was critical. “We’re kind of on a high right now. We knew that they were going to be tough. Coach (Hollie Averett) called it “Revenge Week,” so we really wanted this game We just had to lock them up and have a good day.”

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

The Red Devils were nursing a 39-37 lead with under two minutes to play when freshman Hattie Templeman found Sami DelLamas inside for a bucket and a 41-37 lead with 1:31 to play. Esplin put the game away at the foul line and the Red Devils had their upset.

“The first time we played Maple Mountain, we kind of crumbled under the pressure of the game,” Averett said. “We’ve had a lot of close games and we’ve been working on finishing strong. We finally kind of figured it our last region game and against Cyprus (in the first round). We figured out we can handle pressure and close out a game.”

Templeman led Springville (7-17) with 14 points, including a pair of fourth quarter 3-pointers, and Esplin added 11.

Senior Jaynee Tanner led Maple Mountain (17-7) with 12 points and sophomore Shay Brown contributed 11. Bailey, who came into the game averaging nearly 11 points per game, had a late 3-pointer to finish with seven.

Junior Brynlee Johnson scored five points in the first quarter and Springville claimed a 10-5 lead. Maple Mountain found its offense in the second and surged to a 17-15 lead at halftime.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

A 3-point play by Brown fueled a run for the Golden Eagles and the home team led 28-23 in the third period. Springville outscored Maple Mountain 7-1 over the final 1:43 with baskets from Millie Thompson, Hall and Brynlee Johnson for a 30-29 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

A Templeman triple put the Red Devils up 39-35 with 3:02 to play and a basket from Tanner pulled Maple Mountain within two at 39-35, setting up the final sequence.

Springville will play the Timpview-Woods Cross winner in Saturday’s quarterfinals at the University of Utah. The Thunderbirds won both Region 7 matchups but the first one was a 2-point margin.

Averett, who won state titles with Springville in 2021 and 2022, has the youngest varsity team she’s ever coached playing its best basketball at the most important time of the season.

“You just never know,” Averett said about the quarterfinals. “Both teams are there and it’s a big arena, you just don’t know if it’s going to go great. If we can just focus on our defense we can compete. I’ve been there before but they haven’t, so it’s a big deal.”

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

Hall added: “We’ve been working our butts off. I’m so proud of my team. We’ve come a really long way.

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