From Deseret News archives:
Girls high school basketball: No. 4 Grantsville upsets No. 2 Morgan
"We always knew we belonged," said senior forward Sammie Jensen after the fourth-ranked Cowboys upset second-ranked Morgan 47-37 Thursday. "We just had to start from the bottom up. ... This is a huge win for us."
Grantsville got off to a great start behind Marissa Robbins, who scored 11 points, and Sammie Jensen, who led all scorers with 21 points. Kelsi Wells added 13 points in the critical region victory.
"I thought Marissa really came out strong and got us off to a good start," said head coach Kenzie Newton. "I was very impressed with Sammie. She really battled tonight. This is a good win for us."
The Cowboys owned all of the momentum in the first half with an offensive attack that offered a little of everything. By half-time, Grantsville led 34-16.
"Defensively, I was really disappointed that we allowed that many points in the first half," said Morgan coach Brad Matthews.
The Trojans made some defensive adjustments in the second half and held the Cowboys to just a single field goal — a 3-point shot by Jensen. But the Grantsville defense held Morgan's offense in check and then the Cowboys made their free throws to hold onto the lead.
"I thought we did a good job of shutting down their momentum," said Newton. "You know a good team is going to make a run, and I thought we did a good job of keeping our composure."
The Cowboys also out-rebounded the Trojans with Jensen leading the way with 18 boards — five of which were offensive.
"I told the girls, 'These guys have been ranked ahead of us all year, and we won, but we still have things we can work on,'" said Newton. "This is a huge confidence boost for us. We're trying to make sure we're peaking at the right time. ... Defensively, tonight, we stepped it up."
Matthews said the Trojans expected a tough game as they split with Grantsville last year.
"They were a good team last year and they're better this year," he said. "We had our opportunities, but we didn't capitalize on them."
Morgan was led by Becca Rees, who scored 10 points, Rachael Johnson, who added seven points, and Angela Blazzard, who finished with six points. Garfield grabbed eight rebounds and Blazzard led the team with nine boards.
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com
