Lone Peak girls move on to 6A quarterfinals with tight win against Lehi
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- (From left) Lone Peak assistants Kristen Pool and Feli Ika join head coach Nancy Warner in reacting to a big basket late in a 6A girls basketball state tournament game against Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2026.
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- Lehi’s Madi Andrews (44) drives to the basket against Lone Peak in a 6A girls basketball state playoff game on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2026.
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- Players on the Lone Peak bench react during a 6A girls basketball playoff game against Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2026.
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- Lehi girls basketball coach Sean Seastrand reacts during a 6A state playoff game against Lone Peak on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2026.
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- Lone Peak girls basketball coach Nancy Warner (left) holds a meeting with her assistant coaches during a 6A state playoff game against Lehi on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Lave Holdcraft (left) goes up for a shot against Lehi in a 6A girls basketball state playoff game on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2026.
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- Lone Peak’s Peyton Warner handles the ball against Lehi in a 6A girls basketball state playoff game on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2026.
Most teams don’t survive going nearly ten minutes without a field goal in a state playoff game.
Lone Peak did.
The No. 5 seed Knights recovered from that long offensive drought and overcame a five-point fourth-quarter deficit, getting a huge basket from senior Lave Holdcraft with 35 seconds to play in a tense 50-46 victory against Lehi in the second round of the 5A state tournament.
Lone Peak, which has won the past four 6A titles, moves on to the quarterfinals in its quest for a fifth straight gold trophy.
Last year, the Knights won the state title as a No. 7 seed.
“I think everybody wants it, and it showed tonight,” said Holdcraft, a senior who also started on last year’s team. “We were down by five and then we came back. There’s heart and grit on this team. Everyone is so hard working. We go into everything head strong, relying on each other and just being physical. That’s what’s going to take us to the top.”
Brynlee Cook and Cali Ashton got No. 12 Lehi off a hot offense start on Thursday and an 18-16 first-quarter lead. The game was tied at 22 midway through the second quarter when Lone Peak fashioned an 11-4 run. Sophomore Maddie Pope, who has missed the five previous games due to an injury, scored seven points during that run, including a corner 3-pointer in the final seconds for a 33-26 halftime lead.
Lehi’s zone defense clamped down on Lone Peak in the third quarter, holding the home team to just three free throws. The Pioneers led 39-36 entering the fourth and Ashton scored for a 41-36 advantage with 7:30 remaining.
“I think we just needed to rely on each other and trust what we were trying to run,” Knights head coach Nancy Warner said. “Lehi did a great job of rotating and shifting quickly, and we just needed to trust each other and execute how we needed to. A few of our stops defensively got us going a little bit, or at least to the free throw line, to kind of break that momentum.”
Lone Peak finally broke the field goal drought at nine minutes and 42 seconds on a basket from Pope. The Knights turned some of their own defense into offense and scored six straight points, taking a 42-41 lead on a Huni Folau fast break basket with six minutes to play.
Pope scored and Charlie Warner spun in a layup for a 46-43 Knights lead but Ashton put back an offensive rebound to make the score 46-45 with 3:10 to go. Both teams had chances to take control and Holdcraft finally gave Lone Peak some breathing room, taking the ball hard down the lane and scoring for a 48-45 lead at the 35-second mark.
“Tati (Harness) drove and she saw me corner,” Holdcraft said. “She had a really good pass, and then I saw a lane to the basket. I just swept in and I let it go.”
Lehi had a couple of chances on its next possession, missing a 3-pointer, grabbing the offensive rebound and missing a baseline jumper. Harness finally corralled the defensive rebound with 14 seconds remaining and the Knights made a couple of foul shots to hold on for the win.
Pope led the Knights with 13 points. Peyton Warner and Folau added 11 points each. Ashton topped Lehi (14-10) with 17 points and Cook finished with 13.
Lone Peak has already faced plenty of adversity this season. In the middle of losing eight straight games (seven to out-of-state competition, one to 5A No. 1 Pleasant Grove), the Knights lost 2025 Daily Herald Player of the Year and BYU commit Kennedy Woolston for the season with an injury.
All Lone Peak had to do was reinvent itself midseason.
“I think it was just allowing the girls to find their own rhythm,” Warner said. “When their numbers been called in games, or the reps in practice that they’re getting, that’s allowed their confidence to improve, and it makes a difference for our team. So really, more credit to them just owning that and taking it on, instead of shying away from the moment or being too scared or fearing it. They just stepped right in and just said, ‘Okay, I can do this.'”
Lone Peak (14-10) will face No. 4 seed Mountain Ridge (17-7) in the 9:10 p.m. quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center next Wednesday.
