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West Valley City • If the first Class 3A girls basketball semifinal on Friday proved anything, it's that the Morgan Trojans have more than one player who can drain a 3-pointer.

For the Trojans, that skill was never really used in a critical moment against Carbon. That's because Morgan (18-8) seized the lead early with the long-ball and used it in spots to keep the Dinos at bay in a 56-41 victory.

At the Maverik Center, five different Trojans tickled the net from behind the 3-point arc. All in all, Morgan hit eight out of 15 tries and were led by Savanna Brooks' 15 points.

"They went in when we needed them. They seemed to come at real opportune times," Morgan coach Kade Morrell said. "We missed a few here and there, but that's the way shooting goes. You've got to try to let them get into their rhythm."

Actually, the Trojans seemed rather in synch from the beginning of the game.

Lily Henry popped a three to begin the scoring and that was followed by a Jessica Carter trey. Carter would end up scoring nine points - all on 3-pointers.

Morgan scored the first eight points of the game and eventually took a 20-8 advantage in the first quarter.

Carbon (17-8) played Morgan in its first contest of the season and made up a 17-point deficit before finally winning in overtime.

This time, the Dinos would never be able to make up the stagger.

"We had a great season. We just couldn't overcome their shooting tonight. They shot the heck out of the ball and, unfortunately, we didn't," Carbon coach Ted Bianco said. "We gave ourselves a chance, especially going into halftime."

But the Trojans, up 29-25 at intermission, started the third very similar to the beginning of the game as Carter and Lizzy Peterson drained 3s. Maintaining a five-point lead at the end of the third quarter, Brooks swished another three for a 42-34 score.

Led by Jerika Morgan's 12 points, Carbon got a deuce from Morgan Hillam to start the fourth. The Trojans, however, answered with an 8-1 run to effectively end the Dinos chances.

Morgan's championship game appearance Saturday will be the second straight for the Trojans.

"We got their last year and took second, so we really have a vengeance to go out there and win it," said Brooks, who noted as well that teammate Jessica Carter was on the second-place state volleyball team in the fall. "There's no way she's getting three second-places in a row and we're getting two."

And, yes, that prediction included a possible match against region rival Juan Diego - which has beat Morgan twice this season. The Trojans will play the Soaring Eagle for the 3A state title Saturday at 11:00 a.m..

"We need to shut down the twins (Monique and Domonique Mills) and box out. Last time we played them, we had 29 turnovers," Brooks said. "That's way too many and we only lost by about ten. Cut those in half and it's a whole different game."

Juan Diego 66, Bear River 55

If scoring for Bear River on Friday could be compared to hiking up a mountain with a full pack, Juan Diego's offensive production on the other hand was more like a zip-line ride.

While Bear River labored at times to find points, especially in the first quarter, the undefeated Soaring Eagle scored quickly and often.

Though the Bears fought gamely to stay in some sort of striking range, the Juan Diego spurts in the first quarter were enough to build a comfortable gap that lasted for the rest of the game.

Juan Diego (24-0), which got 19 points from Domonique Mills and 18 more from twin sister Monique, trailed briefly at 7-5 with 4:42 left in the first quarter. But, two minutes later, the Soaring Eagle had reeled off 15 straight points for a 20-7 lead.

At the 4:57 mark of the second quarter, Juan Diego held a commanding 36-11 lead. The closest Bear River (17-6) would come the rest of the way was the final 11-point deficit - when the Bears, who were led by Jenny Bitner's 11 points, hit six free throws in the last minute.

"I thought the defense was really solid in the first half," Juan Diego coach Josh Archuleta said. "Once we got the 20-point lead, I wasn't really very happy with the way we played in the second half." —

Morgan 56, Carbon 41

R Morgan starts the game with an 8-0 run and never trails. The closest Carbon gets in the second half is five points.

• Every Trojans' starter — Lizzy Peterson, Ali Tonks, Savanna Brooks, Jessica Carter and Lily Henry — drains a 3-pointer in the win.

• Carbon, which advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2011, is led by Jerika Morgan's 12 points.