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Lone Peak senior Kailey Woolsten drives between three defenders during the non-region game at Springville on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Springville senior Brooke Pennington drives to the basket during the non-region game against Lone Peak at Springville on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Lone Peak junior Naia Tanuvasa goes up for a layup during the non-region game at Springville on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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The Lone Peak girls basketball team had dropped a pair of tough games to out-of-state competition to close out 2022, then had come back to blast West Jordan earlier in the week.

But going on the road to face Spingville would be an entirely different challenge.

The battle of the defending 6A champ Knights and the defending 5A champ Red Devils was even more intriguing since both team brought back a lot of key players from the 2021-22 season.

When it came time to take the court, however, it was clear that Lone Peak was ready.

“We just continue to challenge ourselves to get better every day and this is an opportunity to play a great team, a very well coached team,” Knight head coach Nancy Warner said. “They were just ready for the challenge and ready to have another opportunity to get better.”

Lone Peak scored the first 10 points of the game and led 17-2 before Springville got some things going and got it back to a two-possession game. But the Knights refused to let the Red Devils rally and pulled away for the 68-48 win.

Warner said that she saw her players step up the defensive intensity after Springville got back into the game.

“We challenge ourselves to make sure we focus on getting defensive stops,” Warner said. “Those defensive stops really fuel our offense. Our focus was on our offensive execution and locking in on defense. I think someone got a steal and that was a turning point.”

Red Devil head coach Holli Averett knew it was going to be tough to dig out of a deep hole against a great team like Lone Peak but for the most part she was pleased to see how her squad approached the task.

“I felt like we had some fight at different moments of the game,” Averett said. “We didn’t just roll over. We had that fight and kept trying to come back. We lost a game over the break so we didn’t have that chance to get some of the rust off. I think we played to start off a little scared but I’m glad how they kind of responded.”

One of the big advantages the Knights have is that they have a number of good ball-handlers and weren’t intimidated by the Springville pressure.

“We knew it was coming,” Warner said. “That’s who Springville is. They’ll put pressure on you full court, man-to-man. I think the girls stepped up and did their jobs, did what they needed to do to break it.”

Warner said that one of the team goals was to limit the turnovers and she was pleased with how well her squad accomplished that against the Red Devils.

“Part of what we’re trying to do to get better as we work to improve is making sure we take take care of the ball and and manage our possessions offensively and defensively,” Warner said. “That’s something that we’ve been focused on lately is really trying to bring down that turnover margin.”

After Springville got its one surge to narrow the gap, Lone Peak responded with a big run to push the lead back to double digits and it never got close the rest of the way.

That Knights were led by 21 points from senior Kailey Woolston while three other Lone Peak players were also in double-figures: junior Shawnee Nordstrom with 16 points, junior Naia Tanuvasa with 11 points and freshman Kennedy Woolston with 11 points.

Springville was led by 21 points from senior Ellie Esplin, while senior Brooke Pennington added 15.

Averett said she hope her girls take some of the lessons they learned in the loss and use them to get better as they tackle league play in Region 9.

“We’ve got to play all four quarters,” Averett said. “We’ve got to start strong and we’ve got to win quarters. There’s alsoe a lot of little things that we’re picking out, whether it be how we’re playing screens, how we’re transitioning, or how we are rebounding, but the big things are to limit runs and to bring the fight to the other teams. We don’t want to get knocked down first.”

Warner said she has learned that she has a resilient team, one that hasn’t backed down from any challenge set before it.

“We know we are going to get everyone’s best game,” Warner said. “It’s really important that we continue to be tough. We’re going to continue to hone in on the details, which is something I’ve rarely done during my coaching career. It’s a testament to these girls, to their talent, their focus and their desire to get better every day. It’s been fun to push them and they are always wanting to be pushed, which is great.”

Lone Peak (9-3) now starts Region 4 action when it hosts Pleasant Grove on Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. while Springville (9-2) faced another big battle at home when it faces Timpview on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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