Prep girl's basketball: Mountain View back on top
Glory days » The Bruins win their first state title since 2004.
By Jennifer Gustavson
Mountain View's Chelsea Kocherhans (5, right) embraces teammate Mountain View's Megan Goodman (23) in the fourth quarter. At left is Springville's Lexi Eaton (5), right is Springville's Ashley Kroneberger (21) during the Mountain View vs. Springville girls' basketball, 4A State Championship game Saturday. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)Related
Prep Basketball
Feb 28:
Prep girl's baskeball: Wasps win 2nd straight titlePrep girl's basketball: American Fork upsets RivertonPrep girl's basketball: Richfield beats South Sevier for Class 2A girls' titlePrep boy's basketball: Bear River sends coach out with Class 3A titlePrep boy's basketball: North Summit gets another titlePrep girl's basketball: 5A girls' semifinals: Riverton cruises into finalFeb 27:
Prep boy's basketball: North Summit rallies past Rowland HallPrep boy's basketball: Bear River throttles Juan DiegoTaylorsville » The Mountain View girls' basketball team revived its storied legacy that saw 11 state championships from 1991-2004, defeating Springville 49-32 for the Class 4A state title at Salt Lake Community College on Saturday night.
After each player took a turn holding the championship trophy and got a piece of the net, senior J.J. Petit made sure to tell her teammates that this win was only the beginning.
"Remember this feeling," she said. "You guys are going to be feeling it next year, too."
Mountain View's eight seniors defied expectations by reaching the title game under the direction of first-year coach Andrew Blanchard. But after splitting the regular
Mountain View vs. Springville
season series with the Red Devils, the Bruins didn't waste any time making their state title intentions known against their Region 7 rivals.
Mountain View stepped out with some stifling defensive pressure early in the first quarter, forcing Springville to take the outside shot.
"We've said all year that defense wins championships," said Blanchard. "We were just able to finish at the end when they were panicking."
Unfortunately for the Red Devils, that panic set in early as they struggled to drain jumpers. Mountain View took advantage of their frustration to take a 17-11 lead after the first quarter thanks to a three-point buzzer-beater by Megan Goodman.
But the Bruins had a few problems of their own. Anjie Lines and Aja Domingo each had three fouls by the second quarter, and Christina Augustin got into early foul trouble and eventually fouled out. Lines had a rough night from the foul line, hitting only 3 of 8 to keep the lead from being more than 29-18 at the half.
While those players waited out their fouls, Petit provided quality minutes off the bench, posting a team-high eight rebounds, and the Bruins lead kept inching up through the next three quarters.
But Augustin,
playing in her last game in a Bruin jersey, hit big shots down the stretch to finish with 17 points -- most of them in the paint -- to seal Mountain View's first state title since 2004.
"She came down with some good post moves tonight," said Blanchard. "She was just unstoppable down there."
But at the end of the day, the details of the game paled to the feeling of holding that championship trophy in their hands.
"I had tears in my eyes," said Blanchard. "It's a big day for us."
Mountain View 49, Springville 32
The Bruins overcome first-half foul trouble to claim the 4A girls' championship.
» Christina Augustin dominates in the paint to finish with 17 points.
