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Springville players cheer for a good play during the 5A semifinal game against Spanish Fork at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Springville senior Kayla Porray drives to the basket during the 5A semifinal game against Spanish Fork at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Springville senior Kayla Porray (right) talks to senior Ellie Esplin goes during the 5A semifinal game against Spanish Fork at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Springville senior Brooke Pennington goes up for a shot during the 5A semifinal game against Spanish Fork at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

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Spanish Fork junior Katelyn Bingham shoots a shot during the 5A semifinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Springville head coach Holli Averett looks up at the scoreboard during the 5A semifinal game against Spanish Fork at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Spanish Fork senior Emily Gwilliam shoots a shot during the 5A semifinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Springville senior Ellie Esplin goes up for a shot during the 5A semifinal game against Spanish Fork at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Spanish Fork sophomore Eden Erickson shoots a shot during the 5A semifinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Springville head coach Holli Averett directs her team during the 5A semifinal game against Spanish Fork at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Spanish Fork players applaud a good play during the 5A semifinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Springville senior Kayla Porray drives to the basket during the 5A semifinal game against Spanish Fork at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Springville senior Sami Stepp passes the ball during the 5A semifinal game against Spanish Fork at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Spanish Fork sophomore Olivia Roberts shoots a shot during the 5A semifinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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Springville head coach Holli Averett directs her team during the 5A semifinal game against Spanish Fork at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Spanish Fork head coach Brynlie Nielsen directs her team during the 5A semifinal game against Springville at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

❮ ❯

To go for three, the Springville girls basketball team had to get going from three.

The Red Devils, who won 5A titles in 2021 and 2022, had to get past a scrappy Spanish Fork team in Friday’s 5A semifinals at the Dee Events Center in Ogden to get a chance at a three-peat.

Although Springville had the lead for much of the game, the Dons were close enough to be dangerous. The Red Devil edge was 35-26 midway through the third quarter, which any team knows can evaporate in a hurry.

Then Springville started getting its 3-point shots to fall and any chance of Spanish Fork’s Cinderella run continuing evaporated.

The Red Devils hit six treys from that point on, building a big lead and cruising to the 56-31 win over the Dons.

“We were a little off but we had to stay confident and knock them down,” said Springville senior Brooke Pennington, who hit the first two to get the team going. “When one goes in, it doesn’t just help the person who made it but it helps everyone. It gives you a confidence boost and momentum is a big thing, especially in tournaments. Getting that momentum and keeping it is big.”

Red Devil head coach Holli Averett said she was confident that at some point the shots would start falling.

“It’s tough because there is a little more pressure this year than we’ve had in the past,” Averett said. “I think they can feel it more. Trying to get that out of them and stay loose isn’t easy. We figured they would play some zone, so we kept slicing in. When you do that, good things happen.”

Even though it took a while to build a large cushion, Springville always relied on its defense anyway and that kept the Dons from going in front.

“It’s about team defense,” Averett said. “I thought we kept them out of their rhythm. We had a great defensive effort and that kind of takes the pressure off on offense.”

The Red Devils had a 24-0 advantage in points off of turnovers, often getting good looks from taking the ball away.

Spanish Fork head coach Brynlie Nielsen said she was proud of how her team competed against a very good opponent.

“They battled,” Nielsen said. “These girls who love each other. That’s what got us here. You can’t take away from the fact that these girls came together and decided that they weren’t going to be done. And that’s what I’m most proud of. They fought through three really hard games and Springville is just elite. We knew coming in it was going to be a dogfight. We just ran out of time and ran out of gas.”

Springville was led by 14 points from senior Kayla Porray, while Pennington had 13 and senior Ellie Esplin scored 12.

The Dons were led by 10 points from senior Emily Gwilliam, while junior Katelin Bingham added eight.

Although Spanish Fork saw its season come to an end, Nielsen felt like her team showed tremendous improvement.

“We were second-to-last in 5A last year,” Nielsen said. “Everyone went to state last year and we had to play-in to go to state. But honestly, these girls have worked hard all year long. We have to tip our hats for their work ethic. They’re here because they worked their butts off all summer long.”

She hopes her underclassmen recognize the culture that the seniors established and understand that relationships matter, that this is a team that is going to have fun.

Averett said Spanish Fork deserves to be recognized for what it accomplished.

“They’re tough,” Averett said. “They fight. They’re never going to give up. They hit some big shots and they played pretty great during this run.”

Pennington said having two teams that are located close to each other in the semifinals was a great experience.

“I think it was super fun, partially because they’re super nice girls,” Pennington said. “We just know each other. We’ve been playing with each other for four years. It was more relaxed. It made for a better environment.”

Springville now moves on to the finals where they will face a Bountiful team that beat them in the preseason.

“It’s definitely exciting,” Pennington said. “All the work pays off. It’s not done but it’s exciting for sure.”

Averett said her team will be ready to take on the Redhawks and looks forward to the challenge.

“It’s pretty awesome to be back in the championship,” Averett said. “My first year coaching was with these freshmen and now they’re seniors. It’s a pretty crazy run they’ve had. The most amazing thing is that they are extremely hard workers. We are not easy on them. It is a long season hard season, but they come every day ready to go. I’m super-proud but we’ve got to keep working. After this game, we talked about how we’ve still got things to improve on.”

The 5A championship is scheduled to take place at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Box score

Spanish Fork (31)

Cook 6, Roberts 1, Anderson 3, Gwilliam 10, Erickson 3, Bingham 10. Totals 12 3-8 31.

Springville (56)

Esplin 12, Pennington 13, Galbraith 1, Porray 14, Durfy 6, Stepp 8, Leavitt 2. Totals 21 8-12 56.

Spanish Fork

Springville

3-pointers: Spanish Fork 4 (Bingham 2, Anderson, Erickson); Springville 6 (Pennington 2, Porray 2, Stepp 2).

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