High school girls basketball: Bruins bedevil Springville

OREM — Springville still has a stranglehold on the Region 7 title.

That said, they weren't able to take on Mountain View on its home court and bring home a victory. Yes, the No. 2-ranked Red Devils lost their first league game of the year as the Bruins not only came out and started the game well, they also finished it.

And finishing was the theme of the night, according to Mountain View coach Andrew Blanchard.

"We were finishing layups. We were finishing plays. We weren't afraid to have contact," said Blanchard, and again he reiterated that his team finished.

That's something the No. 3-ranked Bruins' coach hasn't been happy with for the last few games, and something the team has talked about since its loss to Springville in their first round against the Red Devils. And the talks worked. The team finished with a 60-49 victory over tough Region 7's top-ranked team.

And that was part of Springville's problem in this game. Not only was Mountain View playing a tough brand of defense that was designed to keep the Red Devils out of their favorite spots in the paint, but Springville was also not finishing. They weren't finishing layups. They weren't rebounding in their normal manner. And they weren't hitting the long bombs.

"We wanted them to take 3s, and they didn't go in for them tonight. They want to get to the hole. They're looking for the contact, and they like to shoot free throws," said Blanchard, who was not only hoping to keep Springville from the paint offensively, they were also trying to keep the Red Devils off the blocks to limit their offensive rebounding opportunities.

All was deemed a success.

"We held the best offensive team in 4A to 49 points in the game. I said if they were in the high 40s low 50s we would have a good chance of winning," said Blanchard, who was plenty pleased with his team's defensive effort.

"Chelsea (Kocherhans) is a demon defensively," said Blanchard, who also noted how his star defender also scored 12 points.

Athletic Anjie Lines led the team with 15 points, and Megan Goodman put three Bruins into double digits with 10.

But much of the success came with intensity.

"We had a sour taste after leading that whole game (the last time the Bruins played Springville) until the three minute mark and then losing it," said Blanchard, who admitted that beating the Red Devils had a little bit of a revenge factor to it.

And the Bruins' next game on February 17 against Payson will have that same feeling of vengeance emanating throughout it.

"Now we're just focused on beating Payson. We want to get a little revenge and split with them," said Blanchard, who is conceding that Springville most likely has the region title wrapped up, and his team wants to take second place away from the Lions.

Jasmine "JJ" Petit and Christina Augustin each scored eight for the Bruins in the balanced effort. Lexi Eaton led the way for Springville with 14 points, followed by Sadie Clements with 12 and Ashley Kroneberger with 11.

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