TAYLORSVILLE — She plays like an upperclassman. She acts like an upperclassman. That's because talented freshman Brittney Martin has been playing basketball since she was old enough to pick up a ball, and she has plenty of confidence in her abilities.

But even that confidence and maturity possessed by one of the top ninth-graders hadn't finished off Pleasant Grove with 2.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Down by one, Pleasant Grove ended up getting the shot it wanted, as the Vikings got the ball into the hands of their 6-foot-6 junior Jennifer Hamson, who took it high and put it up toward the hoop from about 10 feet away on the left side and over the outstretched arms of a Syracuse defender. But it bounced off of the rim and away from the basket to give Syracuse a 50-49 victory

"I was just saying, 'Please don't make it.' Then when it didn't fall, I thought, 'Take care of the ball," then finally, 'We won,' " said Martin after her team advanced to the 5A state tournament semifinals for the first time in the young school's history.

But the Titans will have to go on to the next round without their star freshman at 100 percent. Martin injured her left foot about three weeks ago, informed her coaches that it didn't feel quite right about a week and a half ago, and had a doctor look at it on Wednesday.

After being told that it was most likely fractured or ready to break, she decided to play basketball for her team and take care of the foot after the tournament endsPleasant Grove was leading 46-44 when the intensity built to the point of breaking, and Syracuse guard Jennifer Hazlett dropped one in from 3-point range to give the Titans a 47-46 advantage.

Then Martin got her chance to shine from the line as Pleasant Grove guard Danyele Hoffman was called for an intentional foul that sent Martin to the stripe with no teammates around for support. She calmly nailed both freebies to give her team a 49-46 lead with 44 seconds to go.

The Vikings missed a 3-pointer, while Martin then hit 1-for-4 on her next two trips to the line to give the Titans their 50th point.

Martin finished the game with 13 points, 12 rebounds and three steals.

E-mail: jolsen@desnews.com