High school girls' basketball: Knights off to strong start in hoops debut

HIGHLAND — The Lone Peak Knights girls basketball players aren't even thinking about living up to their No. 5 ranking in the state right now.

All they want to do is get out onto the basketball court, figure out what they're doing that's right and what they're doing that's wrong, and work on giving themselves a more complete game.

They succeeded on all fronts in their matchup on the first day of the girls' basketball season against the Kearns Cougars. First, they did come away with a slick 68-35 victory, ensuring that they maintain plenty of support for a solid ranking. Second, they discovered plenty of kinks that they need to work out. Third, they found several things they were doing well.

"I told them before the game started that whatever happens in this game, we just want to try to find out here what we need to work on as a team," said Lone Peak coach Keith Flood.

But senior guard/forward Megan Smith was able to show him and others in the state what was working as well.

"She runs the floor well, and she's a great athlete, tough to stop. She's a great weapon, but because of her injuries at the beginning of last season, she's a little bit of a surprise to most people. She caught fire and loves it," said Flood about the player who can play defense, shoot from the outside, pass the ball and drive to the hoop.

Smith finished the game with 26 points and six steals after finishing the Region 4 season last year averaging seven points a game after coming off her injury. But though the Knights were solid in the full-court game, picking up steals and running the court well, they did have some issues when play slowed down.

"We were too impatient in our half-court offense, but we ran the floor well," said Flood, who noted that the impatience in the half court was one reason highly-touted Whitney Johnson and Marquelle Funk had a tough time getting themselves into the scoring column. Johnson finished with 11 quiet points, and Funk added nine, but it was her all-around versatility that impressed the coach and the crowd. Funk also added six steals, six blocked shots and four assists to her versatile attack.

Though she didn't score, senior forward Dalene Hansen garnered Flood's support as he noted, "In the first quarter, she really got us going when she came in."

Brittany Davies also picked up eight points for the Knights in a real team effort, even though it was marred by the "first game of the season" woes.

Kearns point guard Christen Lopez finished with 11 points as did teammate Brooke Larsen, but the entire Kearns squad was having difficulty hanging onto the ball and shooting it.

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