Indeed the Vikings have romped over the competition so far this season en route to a gleaming 16-0 mark with the state playoffs about a month away. Most of the wins have come by large margins, although the win over the Wasps tested Pleasant Grove’s resolve to the fullest, with some clutch free throws made by Tabi Clark earning an extremely hard-fought victory.

With just 0.8 seconds left on the clock of the first overtime period, Clark took to the free throw line with her team down 46-44. The senior forward confidently went through her routine, which had been practiced in earnest during recent weeks, and had all three attempts go straight to the bottom of the net as if she’d been in that same situation several times before.

“We’ve been shooting a lot of free throws, as a team, lately, and it’s something I practice a lot, so I was ready for that moment,” Clark said. “It really is second-nature for me at this point. I was shaking a little bit, admittedly, but after some deep breaths I was able to focus and hit all three of them.”

A last second heave toward the basket came up empty for Wasatch as Clark and her teammates had a well-earned celebration with one another on the court.

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

For Pleasant Grove coach Angela Villa, Clark coming up clutch was particularly satisfying for several reasons.

“We practice foul shots a lot, and it’s so interesting that the goal in practice has always been to make 80 percent, but this past week and a half I decided to kick it up to 90 because I felt our team is better than just 80,” Villa related. “So it showed today, and I’m just so happy that the increased goal of hitting 90 in practice would translate, and I’m so thrilled that Tabi was able to come through like she did. She’s our senior leader out there and you saw why she’s such a great leader and player tonight.”

Getting to Clark’s final free throws was an arduous task, to say the least.

From the outset the Wasps let Pleasant Grove know that they wouldn’t lay over and would give the No. 1-ranked team in Utah County all it could handle and then some. Both teams battled to a 21-21 tie at the break before Wasatch took control in the third quarter, pushing its lead to as many as nine points as the Vikings look uncommonly discombobulated on the offensive end while lacking some intensity on the defensive end.

“It just didn’t flow for us tonight and credit to Wasatch. They played great,” Villa said. “We just couldn’t get anything going, during that third quarter especially, so we knew we had to kick it up defensively, and we knew that if we did that then things would come together for our offense.”

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

Wasatch led 40-35 at the outset of the fourth quarter, but was held with just one basket for the remaining six minutes of regulation as Pleasant Grove amped up the pressure on the defensive end. Most of that pressure was aimed at shutting down Wasatch guard Filifaiesea Liava’a, who scored a game-high 23 points.

“She’s such a great player, and she had an incredible game,” Villa said. “We knew we had to shut her down, and the focus was not to let her get the ball back after she passed it, and we really did that well, I thought.”

Things didn’t come easy for the Vikings on the offensive end, but they did manage some key baskets late, including a drive from Zuri Nordstrom on the baseline that gave her team their first lead of the second half with just a few seconds remaining.

For the game Nordstrom contributed 11 points with Clark adding 12 and Sutton Villa a team-high 13.

Wasatch appeared to have won the game late in the overtime period after Kate Miller hit a 3-pointer to put her team up 46-44 before Clark’s aforementioned late heroics.

Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald

With the win, Pleasant Grove remains unbeaten on the season, a mark which Coach Villa is obviously proud of, but admittedly a bit wary of at the same time.

“Losing provides the biggest opportunity to learn and to grow, so when you go this long without losing…you don’t have that opportunity to learn perhaps like you need,” she said. “But this game tonight, with what we had to battle through…I hope it’s the experience we needed in place of a loss to be tested and yet come out on top like we did. I couldn’t be prouder of every single player on our team and how they responded tonight. I think tonight will serve as a great wakeup call for us.”