No. 12 Skyridge girls basketball holds off No. 5-seed Lehi in 6A second round
-
- Skyridge senior Shae Toole avoids a pair of defenders during the 6A second-round game at Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
-
- Lehi senior Hadlie Warren drives to the basket during the 6A second-round game against Skyridge at Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
-
- Skyridge junior Merceius Mili shoots a shot during the 6A second-round game at Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
-
- Lehi senior Malia Havea shoots a 3-pointer during the 6A second-round game against Skyridge at Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
-
- Skyridge senior Cambree Blackham drives into the lane during the 6A second-round game at Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
-
- Lehi senior Kaleigh Freeman shoots a shot during the 6A second-round game against Skyridge at Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
-
- Skyridge players celebrate a good play during the 6A second-round game at Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
-
- Lehi players cheer a made 3-pointer during the 6A second-round game against Skyridge at Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
-
- Skyridge head coach Shaylee Nielsen encourages her team during the 6A second-round game at Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
-
- Lehi head coach Sean Seastrand encourages his team during the 6A second-round game against Skyridge at Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.
They hoped the 2023-24 season was going to be their year — but things don’t always go as planned.
That’s how both No. 5-seed Lehi and No. 12-seed Skyridge could view things heading into Thursday’s 6A second-round game at Lehi.
The Falcons, for example, were coming off a run to the 6A finals last March with a large core of returners. Injuries, however, took their toll as talented players like Cambree Blackham, Merceius Mili, Bella Sika and Ellah Oeser missed significant time.
While the Pioneers didn’t deal with players getting hurt in the same way Skyridge did, Lehi did face the challenges of inconsistency. The Pioneers have a number of tremendous outside shooters but have had games where they simply couldn’t get the long shots to drop.
Both teams had reasons to believe they could make a deep run in the 6A playoffs — but they had to get past their crosstown rivals to do so.
And what a game it was.
Other than a brief moment in the first quarter, the Falcons led the entire game including being up by 13 points in the second half.
But the Pioneers refused to fold and, behind the determination of senior Addy Scrivner, chipped away at the Skyridge lead until it was just 50-48 with under a minute to play.
Lehi had a chance to tie with two free throws but could only get one to drop — only to have the Falcons return the favor at the other end with 23 seconds to play.
With the second winding down, Lehi had the ball and went for it all. The tough contested 3-pointer, however, rolled over the rim and out and Skyridge finished off the thrilling 53-49 victory.
“It was so freaking fun out there,” said Blackham, a senior. “We’ve worked so hard all season so being here at state is so fun. Credit to Lehi and Addy (Scrivner). They are a great team and so we knew they weren’t going to back down. It was just about making play after play and not getting caught up in the moment.”
Falcon head coach Shaylee Nielsen said she was thrilled to see her team healthier and finding ways to gut out a tough road win in the playoffs.
“I don’t know if I’ve been more proud of a group,” Nielsen said. “We had a game plan and they stuck to it. We wanted to attack, attack, attack and even when they swung, we wanted to swing right back. They had a resilient mentality all night and I think that was so big for us.”
It didn’t take long for Skyridge to take control as the Falcons used a 15-1 run to turn a 6-4 deficit into a 12-point lead early in the second quarter.
But Lehi’s shooting got the Pioneers back in the game. Lehi drained four treys to cut the deficit to just 22-19 before the Falcons answered with a run of their own to lead 29-20 at halftime.
Skyridge appeared to be firmly in control after pushing the advantage to 35-22 in the third but Scrivner willed her team back into the game with eight of the next 10 Lehi points.
The final quarter saw both teams make plays but Skyridge maintained a 6-point lead until Lehi made a final push as the seconds ticked off the clock, setting up the drama of the final moments.
“We’ve had a ton of girls step up throughout the season,” Blackham said. “Having them helped a ton and now with most of us back, it’s all coming together finally.”
Lehi didn’t shoot poorly, making 6-of-15 3-point attempts in the contest, but the Pioneers ended up just inches away from getting the last one they needed.
It was the end of the road for Lehi (14-9) but Skyridge (13-10) now moves on to the 6A quarterfinals, where they will face No. 4 Syracuse, who beat No. 13 Pleasant Grove on Thursday.
The quarterfinal game will take place at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Feb. 26 at 9:10 p.m.
“It’s so exciting,” Nielsen said. “We took our lumps this year and this is probably the toughest season I’ve ever coached but we told them to just keep believing. It’s so cool for them to get the reward and get to play one more game with their friends.”
American Heritage falls to top-seeded South Summit in 3A quarterfinals
The No. 9-seed Patriots rallied from a double-digit deficit to put pressure on the No. 1-seed Wildcats in Thursday’s 3A quarterfinal contest at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield, but South Summit was able to close out the 67-61 win.
American Heritage trailed by 10 points at halftime but an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter cut the Wildcat lead to just two.
South Summit responded and appeared to be in position to run away from the Patriots after a technical foul early in the fourth quarter resulting in an American Heritage player being ejected. The Wildcats led 56-42 at that point, but the Patriots refused to quit.
American Heritage (15-11) battled back and got to within five points on a couple of occasions, but South Summit stayed in front and advanced to the 2A semifinals to face No. 5-seed Richfield.
Rockwell can’t keep up with No. 3-seed Enterprise in 2A quarterfinals
A tough second quarter proved to be too much for the No. 6-seeded Marshalls to overcome in Thursday’s 2A quarterfinal contest against No. 3-seed Enterprise at Southern Utah in Cedar City.
Rockwell only trailed the Wolves by four after the opening quarter but Enterprise surged in front before halftime, outscoring the Marshalls 20-10 in the period.
Rockwell kept battling but couldn’t erase the double-digit deficit and the Wolves secured the 80-60 win.
While Enterprise advanced to the 2A semifinals to face No. 2-seed American Prep WV, Rockwell (18-7) concluded one of the best seasons in school boys basketball history.
Newsletter
High School
O jogo bonita: Skyridge’s Kalena Bellini savors chance to play for Brazil U17 national team
Make it work: Spanish Fork softball comes up with all the big plays in win at Springville
