High school girls basketball: No. 3 Devils earn victory at home over No. 2 Bruins

SPRINGVILLE — Arguments have been brewing all season long about which of these two Region 7 rivals is better.

And, after a barnburner in Springville and a 67-60 Red Devils victory over Mountain View, absolutely nothing will be settled.

The contest between the No. 2 Bruins and the No. 3 Red Devils lived up all the way to the anticipation surrounding it. Even the players have been looking forward to this matchup for quite some time.

"We knew this was a big game," said Springville sophomore Lexi Eaton, who finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds. "This game we really focused on playing together as a team."

Springville coach Nancy Warner added, "Rebounding was huge for us tonight. Lexi scored when she was open, played within the system and was patient.

"We've struggled the last few games to put team first, but we're getting rid of the selfishness and finally believing in each other."

And while the teamwork wasn't completely apparent during the first few minutes of action, when the Red Devils nervously turned the ball over while trying to break a stingy full-court press by the Bruins, they got it together along the way and finished strong.

After taking a 2-0 lead on a jumper by Sadie Clements, who finished with 15 points, the Red Devils fell behind and stayed there until they took their second lead with only 2:45 remaining in the game.

In between, the Bruins spurted ahead and maintained at least a slim margin until Springville finally finished a game-long comeback at that late fourth-quarter mark.

The Bruins held a pair of nine-point leads in the first quarter, most of the points coming off turnovers caused by their scrappy defense. But Springville made a mini-comeback and only found itself down 17-13 at the end of the first.

Again in the second, the Bruins took charge early and pulled out to a 28-17 advantage with 2 1/2 minutes remaining, but the Red Devils didn't allow them to keep that lead, either. Springville went on an 11-2 run to finish off the half and found itself down only 30-28 heading into the locker room. Clements finished things off at the buzzer with a 3-pointer for the Red Devils.

Like clockwork, the Bruins added to their lead again to start off the third, but Springville cut it to 45-43 with seconds left, only to have Mountain View return the trey favor as Megan Goodman drained a three for the Bruins at the buzzer to give them a five-point lead. Goodman finished with 15 points to lead her team in scoring, including three treys.