High school basketball: Vikings withstand surge to defeat Knights

PLEASANT GROVE — Rough and tumble Region 4 was at it again as Pleasant Grove and Lone Peak crossed swords Tuesday night in an intense girls basketball battle.

An impressive defensive showing in the second quarter put the Vikings in control, and after surviving a surge by the Knights, Pleasant Grove put the game away, winning 49-45.

The Vikings improved their Region 4 record to 1-1 while the Knights lost their first region game, dropping to 2-1 on the season and leaving American Fork as the only undefeated team in Region 4.

"In this region a win is a win. I don't think any team is going to be able to get through this region undefeated. And I don't say that with disrespect, I just think that all of these teams are so closely matched," said Pleasant Grove coach Glenn Larson.

The two teams both survived a run-and-gun first quarter battle with the Vikings coming away with a 22-17 lead. Pleasant Grove's 6-foot-6 center Jennifer Hamson found herself with a pair of fouls with 24 seconds remaining in the period and sat through the rest of the first and most of the second period.

Surprisingly, the Vikings not only survived without their power player in the middle during this stretch, they actually pulled away quite nicely, outscoring Lone Peak 12-6 while the BYU-bound Hamson rode the bench. She finished with 12 points.

"When Jen went out, we knew we'd struggle playing man. We switched to the zone and they struggled against it," said Larson, noting that the struggles didn't quite last through the remainder of the game.

Lone Peak rallied in the fourth quarter, trimming what was a 12-point deficit to 46-42 with 1:15 left in the game. Mikail Burningham got Lone Peak closer with a 3-pointer to make it 48-45 with 21.2 seconds remaining.

Danyele Hoffman made a foul shot to give Pleasant Grove its winning margin.

"I was nervous they'd hit the three and tie it, but they didn't and Danyele hit the second free throw. I called a timeout and made sure we knew the situation, that it was a two-possession game," said Larson, who also noted that he wanted to take the option of a fast break away from the Knights.

The Knights couldn't get a shot away for too long and missed a trey at the buzzer, giving the Vikings the important victory. It was a rare miss of the second half from behind the arc for the Knights as they finished with eight three pointers in the game, three by Funk, who led the team in scoring with 14.

Johnson finished with 11 points for the Knights, and Maddie McGrath added eight.

Hamson and Hoffman each scored 12 for the Vikings. Hamson also delivered 11 rebounds and four blocks, while Hoffman rounded things off with seven assists and four steals.

Rebecca Clement had a nice game for the Vikings with a real hustling effort, contributing 10 points and six rebounds.

Britney Johnson finished with eight rebounds for the Vikings, who take on American Fork on Thursday in yet another important Region 4 matchup.

e-mail: jolsen@desnews.com