"Confidence-wise, they (the Wasps) felt like it was their game to lose," Pyper said. "Going into it, they felt like they had beaten them twice, once on their court and their court is one of the toughest in the state to play on. They felt like they ought to be able to beat them again."

Mountain Crest was in an interesting situation against Woods Cross. The Mustangs were considered underdogs in each of their games against the Wildcats — and won all three meetings.

Mountain Crest coach Jim Crosbie said his team's game plan was the same in each of the Mustangs' wins over the Wildcats. It really clicked in the second half of the quarterfinal game, as Mountain Crest, which won the first two games against Woods Cross by five points apiece, surged to a 57-36 victory.

Prior to the tournament game against the Wildcats, Crosbie reminded his players of what happened to them in 2007. The Mustangs lost to Roy twice during the regular season before they were eliminated by the Royals in the 4A quarterfinals.

"I was confident," Crosbie said. "I know coaches think differently than players do. I said we beat them twice, so why can't we beat them a third time? We seemed to have a game plan that worked pretty well against Woods Cross. The third time, it worked even better."

The other three-time winners probably didn't change much of their game plans in the postseason. Interestingly, Manti, the one team to avenge two losses, didn't change much either.

The Templars lost two close games to Richfield during the regular season, one of which came in overtime. Hugentobler said losing narrowly makes a big difference when it comes to playing a team a third time.

"I think it (playing a third time) was an advantage for us," he said. "Both games we lost were very close games, and we felt like should have won those games. If they would have beaten us by 20, I might have felt differently."

The third game wasn't close, as Manti won 54-41.

The Templars were an anomaly when it comes to winning a third game against an opponent after losing the first two. Crosbie said he believes that was a pretty rare example of how tough it is to beat a team three times in a season.

"You always hear it," Crosbie said. "But if you really sit down and think about it, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Maybe it's just a mind game someone started way back. If you're better than a team and beat them twice, why can't you beat them a third time?"

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