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The Springville girls basketball team celebrates after the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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The Springville girls basketball team celebrates with its fans after the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lehi sophomore Addi Scrivner goes up for a shot during the 5A championship game against Springville at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville senior Ashleigh Mousser (11) knocks the ball away from Lehi senior Jamisyn Heaton during the 5A championship game at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville junior Kayla Porray shoots a shot during the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville junior Brooke Pennington (left) and Lehi sophomore Sammi Love battle for a loose ball during the 5A championship game at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lehi senior Jamisyn Heaton goes up for a shot during the 5A championship game against Springville at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville junior Ellie Esplin (left) encourages her teammates during the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lehi senior Macie Wall shoots a layup during the 5A championship game against Springville at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lehi senior Brooklyn Wiltbank drives to the basket during the 5A championship game against Springville at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville junior Kayla Porray drives to the basket during the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lehi senior Macie Wall tries to beat the buzzer during the 5A championship game against Springville at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville senior Ashleigh Mousser goes up for a layup during the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lehi sophomore Sammi Love dribbles the ball up the court during the 5A championship game against Springville at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville players celebrate a big shot during the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lehi senior Jamisyn Heaton drives to the basket during the 5A championship game against Springville at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville player prepare to take the floor before the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lehi senior Jamisyn Heaton pumps her team up before the 5A championship game against Springville at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville fans cheer on their team during the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville junior Madi Galbraith drives to the basket during the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville head coach Holli Averett directs her team during the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lehi head coach Sean Seastrand encourages his team during the 5A championship game against Springville at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville junior Madi Galbraith shoots a shot during the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville players celebrate after the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville players hug their Lehi counterparts after the 5A championship game at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville junior Kayla Porray celebrates with the fans after the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville junior Brooke Pennington jumps into the arms of senior Ashleigh Mousser after the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lehi seniors Jamisyn Heaton (left) and Macie Wall hold the second-place trophy after the 5A championship game against Springville at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville players wait to get the title trophy after the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Springville junior Kayla Porray waves a piece of the net after the 5A championship game against Lehi at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

❮ ❯

The Springville girls basketball team ought to just print “Relentless” across the back of their jerseys.

That single word identifies the tenacious Red Devils as well as any.

Springville’s defensive effort was the key to a second straight state championship on Saturday with a 54-43 victory against No. 1 seed Lehi in the 5A title game at the Marriott Center.

From the time Lehi took a 10-6 lead in the first quarter, No. 6 seed Springville (22-5) held the Pioneers to just four field goals over the next 20 minutes of game time to take a double-digit lead that would hold up. Ellie Esplin and Ashleigh Mousser had four steals each for the Red Devils, which earned an 18-10 advantage in points off of 15 Lehi turnovers.

“It’s Red Devil defense,” guard Kayla Porray said. “It’s one of the key things our coaches tell us. Defense is not what a lot of teams focus on. They mostly focus on the offense. But we’re different because we want pressure 32 minutes every single game.”

Springville’s brilliant junior guard line of Porray (16 points), Brooke Pennington (15) and Esplin (13) led the way on both sides of the court. Porray nearly lost a tooth late in the second quarter but came back to play the rest of the game.

“I caught an elbow and it almost came out,” Porray said. “There was actually a dentist that was here supporting Springville and he popped it back in. I’ll still need to get it checked out. I needed to be there for my team. We needed to keep the momentum going.”

Lehi started hot and took a 10-6 lead on a Heaton basket midway through the first quarter. That’s when the Springville defense kicked into high gear.

Esplin’s perimeter defense, especially at the end of the first quarter, was a huge difference maker in the game. Her ballhawking led to a flurry of turnovers and an 8-0 run to end the first quarter, turning a 10-6 deficit into a 13-10 lead heading into the second period.

Esplin looked exhausted at the end of the first, but she had more to give.

“I’m very jumpy,” Esplin said. “I needed to be more disciplined because I need to get five seconds (for a turnover) instead of getting out of position. Our defense was great in transition. We switched it on and got things going.”

Red Devils coach Holli Averett added, “We always say, ‘You’re not tired, don’t get tired. They’re tired.'”

Porray dropped in back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Red Devils advantage to seven, 22-15, with 4:40 to play in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Lehi didn’t score a basket until Heaton’s 3-pointer with less than a minute to play and trailed 30-20 at the break. Springville maintained a 36-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Lehi managed to cut the deficit to seven, 38-31, after Wall scored with 3:27 to play but that was as close as it could get. The Red Devils made 16 of 23 from the stripe in the final eight minutes as the Pioneers tried to foul to lengthen the game.

At the final buzzer Springville raced to their student section, the first state championship celebration at the Marriott Center in over 30 years.

“The girls bought into what we envisioned in the offseason,” Averett said. “They’ve worked so hard, and I’m just glad that like we’ve had our ups and downs in the preseason. I feel like we kind of hit our stride at the right moment. We have a vision. We’re quick and we’re small, so we’ve got to play that way, right?

“Honestly. I’m kind of speechless. I don’t even know how to express how happy and proud I am. It’s so cool for the community and everyone.”

Tara Smith and Maci Wall topped Lehi (23-5) with 14 points each and Jamisyn Heaton finished with 10.

“Huge credit to Springville,” Pioneers coach Sean Seastrand said. “I just continue to be so impressed with their program and their staff and the way they are able to do what they do and not not ever vary from their game plan. It’s incredible. I felt like we needed to find ways to get them out of their rhythm and we couldn’t. They kind of got us out of our rhythm. That group was in the state championship last year, and maybe that maybe that gives them a little edge.

“I’m really, really proud of how our girls just continued to believe all the way till the last moments where you kind of know it’s inevitable. They fought the whole game to try to keep that thing alive.”

The Red Devils have eliminated the Pioneers in three straight state tournaments: the semifinals in 2020 and 2021 and in the finals this season.

Springville has now won seven state championships (1990, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2021, 2022) and with four returning starters will likely be favored to win a third straight next season.

There’s something good going on in Springville.

“It’s the way that we push each other,” Porray said. “Every single one of us wants everyone to get better and to get back here and we just push it past our limits. I’ve been playing with some of these girls since I was about first grade and we’ve just gone up together. I think it’s just an amazing experience.”