TAYLORSVILLE — Gabrielle Pinegar stole the show as Timpview waltzed away with the first-round 58-44 win over Cyprus in the 4A girls state basketball tourney.

The junior guard poured in 22 points, including two 3-pointers and 12 first-quarter points, as she led her team in both offense and intensity. She posted seven steals on the defensive end as well.

The T-Birds came on strong in the first quarter behind Pinegar and ran off to the early 20-8 lead. They were able to hold on in the middle quarters before extending the advantage in the final two minutes.

"We came out and played with effort and energy right from the beginning," said Timpview coach Kawika Akina, adding "we had a lot of wide-open looks, but some of them just didn't fall."

But he couldn't say enough about Pinegar.

"She played so well. She started off shooting the ball really well and defensively came out and controlled the game. She had seven steals and at least 10 deflections. Those deflections are so important," said Akina.

But she wasn't the only player controlling things offensively early on. Cyrpus' Torle Nenbee came out strong, putting in 10 of her team's first 11 points and finishing with 17 in the game.

Aana Barabas and Kirstie Henriod also each scored in double figures for the Pirates with 11 and 10, respectively.

Though Timpview made the game look easy with the early lead, it didn't fare as well in the second and third quarters, losing both to Cyprus and heading into the fourth with just a 39-32 lead. And Pirates came out firing and were able to cut the lead to 41-36 on solid play by Henriod and Nenbee.

But they couldn't hold on as Timpview nailed five straight on shots by Jen Farnsworth and Karlee Weight. helping clinch the victory.

Jane Anne Jackson played strong with nine points, and Chelsea Bridgewater added nine for the T-Birds, who will now face Box Elder in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

---

E-mail: jolsen@desnews.com