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Lone Peak head coach Nancy Warner (center) hugs junior Kailey Woolston (left) and senior Teuila Nawahine after the 6A championship game against Fremont in the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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Lone Peak head coach Nancy Warner cuts down the nets after the 6A championship game against Fremont in 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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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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American Fork senior Evan Young celebrates after winning the 6A state championship game against Corner Canyon at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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American Fork players celebrate after winning the 6A state championship game against Corner Canyon at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald)

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One of the greatest games of the 2021-22 high school basketball season took place Saturday in the 6A girls hoops title game.

It had everything I want in a championship: Two phenomenal teams in Lone Peak and Fremont, amazing plays by both sides, nail-biting drama not once or twice but three times (in the double OT thriller) and a classic buzzer-beater to secure the state crown for the Knights.

It was a final that deserved to be broadcast live on television — which, for the first time ever, it was.

It was a final that deserved to have an enormous crowd creating a heart-pounding in an elite college venue (the Marriott Center in Provo).

It was a final that deserved to have two brilliant coaches who, even though their styles were very different, made excellent strategic moves to cater to their team’s strengths and counter the strengths of the other side.

It was a final that deserved to have elite-level officiating, with a trio of referees who took on what I consider one of the hardest challenges in basketball officiating with a big, strong team clashing with a smaller, quick team. And I thought they were excellent.

I was informed before the game that the contest was a historic moment for the state of Utah since both head coaches and all three officials were women.

On the one hand, I enthusiastically applaud those women for being able to participate in that milestone.

On the other, I’m looking forward to the day when gender doesn’t matter at all.

It’s not that these were great female coaches or male coaches, great female referees or great male referees.

It’s just about having good coaches, good officials and good athletes.

Saturday’s 6A title game was a step in that direction and I love seeing that.

I hope I get to see many more steps that blur the lines of gender or race or culture or religion, where ability and effort are all the matter.

In my decades of covering sports in Utah Valley, I’ve come to realize that while every sport is different and the boys and girls have different strengths, they are all striving to be the best they can be — both individually and collectively.

We talk a lot about championships and players of the year and other accolades, but those fade surprisingly quickly.

What matters far more is the connections that these individuals make with each other.

I took a moment before the 6A title game to talk to Nancy Warner about seeing Springville defeat Lehi in the 5A championship, which took place at the Marriott Center right before Warner’s Lone Peak squad faced Fremont.

It was an incredibly special moment for Warner to see the Red Devils win, since she coached Springville to 4A titles in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

As the long-time sports fans in Springville probably already know, one of Warner’s players during those years was a hard-working athlete named Holli Averett — who now coaches the Red Devils and just helped her team win back-to-back 5A crowns.

Not only that but Warner coached many of the assistant coaches on the Springville staff, making it a pretty special moment for her to see them enjoy the biggest success possible with the Red Devils.

Of course, I also had to grin as I recalled a few late-night basketball games at a gym in Orem when I was starting out in the journalism where I took the floor against a gifted BYU basketball player named Nancy Seljaas (now Nancy Warner) and yes, she drilled at least a few 3-pointers right in my face.

I consider myself fortunate to have seen so many amazing Utah Valley athletes in basketball and other sports over the years.

As I watched Lone Peak senior Teuila Nawahine win a title on Saturday, I remembered seeing her older sister, Malia Nawahine, star in getting Springville get a championship in 2013.

As I watched Knight junior Makeili Ika hit the game-winner, I recalled watching other members of the Ika family give everything they had at Provo in years past.

As I watched American Fork seniors Noah Moeaki and Adam Rawson win the exciting 6A boys title game over Corner Canyon, I thought back to years past when Taylor Moeaki was the 2017 Utah Valley Girls Basketball Player of the Year and Tyler Rawson was a star for the Cavemen.

Each season brings thrills and excitement, as well as hardship and disappointments for the players and coaches.

It’s a treat to take in as much of it as I can, to see the milestones and the ties the connect the years together.

Who knows what 2022-23 will bring?