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Springville girls basketball’s defense continues to shine in defeat of Wasatch

By Jared Lloyd - | Jan 21, 2022
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Springville senior Rie Briggs (right) and Wasatch senior Kinsley Schultz battle for the ball during the Region 9 game at Springville on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)
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Wasatch senior Elisabeth Anthony goes up for a layup during the Region 9 game at Springville on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)
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Springville junior Kayla Porray shoots a 3-pointer during the Region 9 game against Wasatch at Springville on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)
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Wasatch sophomore Ashley Garner drives to the basket during the Region 9 game at Springville on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

The Springville girls basketball lost five games to some of the top teams in Class 6A (Fremont, Skyridge, Lone Peak, Westlake and Pleasant Grove) and allowed 48.4 points per game.

In every other contest, the Red Devils have allowed an average of 31.4 points per game.

Oh, and they won each of those 10 games.

That included Friday night’s home contest against Wasatch as Springville stymied the Wasps and pulled away for the 51-29 win.

“We started off a little rough,” Red Devil head coach Holli Averett said. “I thought we need to be smarter sometimes with our shot selection. We’ve been working on it and they’re starting to kind of understand. I thought we had some silly turnovers in the first half but I think the second half we made some adjustments. It helped to hit a few shots but I thought we did a lot better in the second half.”

Springville junior guard Ellie Esplin also felt like it took her team some time to get comfortable.

“We didn’t play our best in the first half, so we had to change things up and drive more,” Esplin said. “Our defense was pretty good. With their size, we had to double down a lot but I thought we did well.”

One of the benefits of being committed to defense is that the Red Devils can rely on that to keep them in the game.

“We pride ourself on our defense,” Averett said. “At every practice, we’re always focusing on a lot of defense. It’s a lot different than last year. We’ve kind of had to change our mindset because we don’t have big post player, so you kind of have to adjust that way as well.”

That was certainly the case against Wasatch, who had three players listed at 6-foot-2.

“We lost two really good posts from last year,” Esplin said. “This year, we’re pretty small so we’ve just had to really work on our defense and force them to make hard catches. When they get it down in the post, we pinch or just double so they can’t get easy looks with their bigs.”

The Wasps used their length and stayed close through the first half. Springville scored six of the last seven points to lead 22-16 at the break.

It was in the third quarter when the Red Devils were able to pull away, outscoring Wasatch 18-8. Esplin’s offense was a big part of that as she scored 11 points during the period.

Esplin said she feels like Springville is getting more comfortable with what it is looking to do on the court. That has shown up on the scoreboard, as the Red Devils have won each of their last five games by at least 12 points.

“We just take it one game at a time but we’re always looking ahead,” Esplin said. “We’re always looking to improve and sharpen things up because while we’re winning these games, we know it’s going to get harder down the road. We just keep working.”

The key for the Red Devils now, according to Averett, is to not get stagnant.

“We need to keep making improvements every game,” she said. “Win or lose, we still are going to go in and we’re going to point out things. Tonight the first half was rough, so we’re going to look hard at it. We’ve got to make sure we have keys we’re focusing on every game. Did we accomplish those goals or did we not? Are we taking that step forward?”

Springville (10-5, 3-0) next plays at Maple Mountain on Tuesday while the Wasps (5-11, 1-2) plays at Spanish Fork on the same evening.

Both games are scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m.

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