TAYLORSVILLE — The Timpanogos Timberwolves outlasted the Weber Warriors 57-52 in a hard-fought first-round battle at the 5A state tournament Tuesday

night at SLCC. The Timberwolves hit four big free throws in the final 16 seconds to clinch the win.

"It's good to win a close one to start," Timpanogos head coach Liz Darger said. "It makes us feel like we've earned it and deserve it."

In the first quarter, the Warriors used a full-court press to get a couple of quick turnovers and scores off the Timberwolves. The teams traded leads throughout the quarter up to the very last bucket when Timpanogos took a slim one-point advantage. Senior Kelsey Sparkman put in eight points to lead the Warriors, while sophomore Morgan Bailey led the Timberwolves with six.

Bailey was almost the total Timpanogos offense in the second quarter, scoring eight of the Timberwolves' 11 points, while senior Amie Jensen led Weber with eight. It was the Jensen/Bailey show for the first half of the quarter. Jensen hit a layup, then Bailey hit a layup and vice versa until Sparkman nailed two free throws to put another player on the board. Timpanogos's Megan Bishop hit a three toward the end of the quarter to tie the game 25-25 at half.

The Timberwolves put on a full-court press to start the third, immediately forcing a turnover and causing problems for Weber throughout the quarter. Amy Weitzeil scored the first six points for the Timberwolves and they outscored the Warriors by four in the quarter — the biggest quarter differential in the game.

Jensen hit a big 3-pointer to open the fourth, but the Timberwolves continued to answer every Weber push down the stretch.

Katie Whalen scored off a big three-point play and then immediately followed it up with a layup off a drive to put Weber up one with less than two minutes to go, but Timpanogos scored the final six points off a Bishop field goal and back to back pairs of free throws from Morgan Freestone and Weitzeil (all seniors) to grab the win.

Junior Amanda Larsen came from behind a Weber player to steal the ball and set up the final free throws for the Timberwolves.

"Hopefully this win is just the first step for us in this tournament," Darger said. "Riverton will be a really good battle."

Weitzeil led Timpanogos with 19 points, while Bailey added 13 points and seven rebounds. Jensen put in 20 for the Warriors and Sparkman contributed 19.

The Timberwolves take on the Silverwolves Thursday at 4:10 p.m. at SLCC.

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