Skyline sophs are key in Eagles' quarterfinal win over Clearfield

TAYLORSVILLE — On some sports teams, the younger players would defer to the upperclassmen regardless of their ability because the older players have paid their dues.

Not the Skyline girls basketball team.

"I really look up to Dani and Jenteal," said senior Jaime Judkins after the Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the 5A girls basketball tournament with a 61-48 win over Clearfield. "They always step it up, and they hold us together."

Dani Peterson and Jenteal Jackson may be just sophomores, but the Eagles are playing in the semifinals due in large part to their leadership on and off the court.

"Jenteal has been a leader all year," said Peterson, who finished with a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds. "She's been giving us pep talks all week. Everyone respects her because of what she does on the court."

Peterson said age hasn't been a factor at all as the team earned a 19-3 record.

"It doesn't matter our age," she said. "It's about our game. We just feel like we've earned it."

That's not to say those older players don't command an awful lot of respect from both their teammates and each other. Judkins helped blow the game open with three 3-point shots in the second half of the game that forced Clearfield to ease up on the pressure in the paint. Jackson finished with 11 points and four assists.

"(Peterson) hurt us in the first half, and we knew she would," said Falcons coach Dorne Hall. "Then their guards started hitting threes . . . Deb's a great coach and she has a bunch of great players. She's out-coached me twice this year."

Falcon point guard Haley Hall gave the Eagles plenty to do defensively. At first the Eagles tried to put their best defender, Judkins — the daughter of Hall's future college coach, Jeff Judkins of BYU — on her in hopes the pressure would slow her down.

"We didn't have good help defense," said Deb Bennett of the BYU-bound senior, who finished with 26 points, three assists and four steals. "You can't guard Haley one-on-one without some help from your teammates . . . Haley in the open court, I think she's the best player in the state."

Hall didn't have a lot of help with only one other player in double digits — Ashley Washburn, who scored 14 points.

Bennett said her players, young and old, did everything right in the game's final minutes.

"The kids took care of business down the stretch," she said.

Junior forward Teresa Uipi didn't get to play much in the Eagles opening round game against Lone Peak, which went into overtime, so she wanted to make the most of every second she had on the floor.

"I didn't play that much the other day," said Uipi, who finished with seven points and seven rebounds, three of which were huge defensive grabs that helped Skyline earn a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. "When I went in, I just wanted to go hard. Eight minutes, mind over matter."

---

E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com