High school basketball: Girls shine despite lack of trophies

Well, the season was good, even if nobody brought home any hardware.

Though all of the Utah Valley teams fell short this year when it came to snaring a girls state basketball trophy, they didn't leave the valley lacking in excitement.

And they all played hard right to the end. Some ended their seasons earlier than expected. Others went where none of their teams has gone in years. And in the end, they provided thrills, chills, bumps, bruises and plenty of cheers even without that trophy.

One of them pulled off the biggest upset of either the 4A or 5A tournaments. Two made it to the state finals. One came away victorious twice though it hadn't won a tourney game in a decade. Two fell to teams they saw as beatable in the first round. Most played well at times and not quite up to par at others. All in all it was tournament basketball at its finest.

American Fork and Timpview both provided the valley plenty of hope for a championship, but both fell just short to great teams in fascinating finals that kept fans on their toes from the first moment until the final buzzer. And in the end both teams walked away with memories, good and bad.

But the Cavemen left with a bitter taste they can't wait to quench at around this time next year.

Region 4

Much of the league season was about American Fork. Could anyone beat them? Then, when they finally lost, how would they respond? Turns out that response was pretty positive for the players that have experience beyond their years.

They bounced right back with fists flying. They finished off the regular season at 18-2 with impressive wins over Davis, Skyline, Lone Peak and Timpanogos. Those two losses to the Knights and T-Wolves? Well, they shook those off and took charge from the opening buzzer in the tournament as they demolished the Layton Lancers from the starting gun to the finish line. The 61-27 victory wound up being the most lopsided game in the tournament.

Then they moved on to challenge last year's champions, and the Bingham Miners fell in yet another lopsided affair as the Cavemen took it to them at 70-53 with Haley Holmstead scoring 20 of her 25 points in the first half.