High school girls basketball: Salem Hills outlasts Timpanogos in OT

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SALEM — Seeing the starting point guard go down just seconds into the third quarter of a critical region game might make some players panic.

Not Salem Hills junior Missy Belliston.

When starting point guard Georgia Agnew went down at 7:17 of the third quarter, Belliston only had one thing on her mind.

"I thought, 'You guys are going to lose because you just took out my best friend,'" said Belliston, who hit 15-of-20 free throws down the stretch, including the game-winners in overtime of Salem Hills' 74-70 win over Timpanogos. "I felt frustration, and I knew our team was going to win for her. She's a great player."

Because the Skyhawks rely heavily on Agnew's leadership and ball-handling skills, it was a significant loss.

"It changed the way we do things," said head coach Mike Conner. "But Missy's been a very good player. When it really matters, she scores."

Conner had high praise for senior guard Hailey Ingram (13 points), as well as senior center Lyssa Hanks (12 points). In fact, most every girl who stepped on the floor for both teams made significant contributions to a well-played, well-coached contest.

For example, in the final minute of regulation, Conner put junior forward Miranda Waite in on defense and then swapped her out for senior guard Jerika Durfey on offense. Waite's first sequence down the floor, she came up with a huge block with about 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter that gave the ball back to Salem Hills.

Both teams started the overtime minus two starters — Timpanogos lost two, including point guard Mercedes Riggs, to fouls, and Salem Hills lost Agnew to injury and Brooke Ford to fouls. The T-wolves lost two more players in the overtime to fouls, while the Skyhawks capitalized on almost every chance they had at the free-throw line, hitting 34-of-45.

The T-wolves were also helped by huge contributions from bench or role players, including sophomore Rachelle Warner, whose 3-point shot at the end of regulation forced overtime. And in overtime, trailing by five points, junior Monica Yeates, fresh from the bench after a teammate fouled out, hit a 3-pointer that put the game — again — within reach of the tenacious T-wolves with six seconds left on the clock.

But an intentional foul put Hanks on the line and she made her only points of the second half by hitting both free throws.