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Taylorsville • Maple Mountain could do nothing right for the first 11 minutes of its Class 4A girls' basketball first-round game against Hillcrest.

The Golden Eagles managed only five points, looked totally out of sync and committed turnover after turnover.

Then something clicked.

Maple Mountain rallied behind senior Lily Jex to score 19 consecutive points, a run that proved the difference in a 46-36 victory over the Huskies on Tuesday.

"Basketball is a game of roller coasters," said Jex, who scored 11 of her 14 points during that stretch, including three 3-pointers. "We all know that. It was back and fourth between each team. The other team got hot, then we got hot. We worked together to get back on track, to get our mojo back."

Golden Eagle coach Cory Green said bad stretches followed by good has been a pattern for his team this season.

"It's good we had that one quarter," he said. "We were able to get that lead and then come through defensively."

He said Jex got hot when her team needed her the most.

"She's a great leader and a great kid," he said. "I am happy for her. She has been a multi-year starter for us. It's great to see a senior have that kind of success in the state tournament her senior year."

Maple Mountain's guard-oriented offense also saw sophomore Madelyn Eaton score 14 points and Nicole Heyn add 10.

That was in contrast to Hillcrest, which got all but six of its 36 points from inside players Annabella Jensen and Cara Snowder, both juniors, who had 16 and 14 points.

The Huskies' big problem came from the line, where they managed to hit just 6 of 20 points.

wharton@sltrib.com

Twitter @tribtomwharton

Maple Mountain 46, Hillcrest 36

• Lily Jex scores 11 points during a 19-0 second-quarter run that turned a 14-5 Hillcrest lead into a 24-14 advantage for Maple Mountain.

• Guard-oriented Maple Mountain gets a combined 38 points from Jex, Madelyn Eaton and Nicole Heyn.

• Hillcrest's Annabella Jensen and Cara Snowder score all but six of their team's points.