By Nicholas J. Pappas

| Special to The Tribune

At halftime, Judge Memorial found itself down by seven points. Cedar City had played stellar defense, limiting sophomore guard Kailie Quinn — the Class 3A scoring leader — to just five points.

The Bulldogs were restricted to taking outside shots, throwing up 14 3-pointers and hitting only two. But despite their shooting woes, Bulldogs coach Matt Mapstone wasn’t worried.

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"I told them we were right there," Mapstone said. "We can score seven points in a minute with this group. We always know we’re in a game seven to 10 points down. We can score in a hurry."

In an improbable comeback, the home team outscored Cedar City by seven points in the fourth quarter to send it to overtime. Quinn scored four of her 25 points in the extra period, leading the Bulldogs to a 47-41 victory and keeping them alive in the Class 3A tournament.

"Going into halftime, I was thinking we’re at home, we have the advantage — we’re a better team," Quinn said. "I knew we could come through and win this in the second half."

In a flurry of activity, senior guard Caitlin Gruis calmly hit her second 3-pointer of the game to cut the lead to one with 2:07 left. Cedar City missed on the other end, but Quinn turned the ball over after the rebound, leading to an easy two-point layup by junior Tara Shipp to put Cedar City up by three.

Senior guard Sarah Nakamura missed a driving layup on the other end of the court for the Bulldogs, but a down-court pass by Cedar City led to a costly turnover that landed in Quinn’s hands.

Quinn stepped to the arc and drained a 3-pointer to tie the game with just 48 seconds left on the clock.

For Cedar City, Shipp led the way with 16 points, while junior guard Taylor Davis added 12 points off four 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs advance to the second round after being knocked out of the first round for the past two years. Judge Memorial will face Carbon — last year’s 3A champion — Thursday.

Other 3A games:

Snow Canyon 66, Uintah 38 » Snow Canyon cruised, building a 21-point lead by halftime over Uintah. Amy Harris led the way with 19 points, including two 3-pointers.

Juan Diego 43, Dixie 35 » Juan Diego outscored Dixie by nine points in the fourth quarter to come from behind for the victory. Monique Mills had 14 points, while Julia Colosimo scored 10 points and hit two 3-pointers.

Carbon 56, Ogden 35 » Carbon rolled through Ogden in a physical battle in which the teams combined for 53 free-throw attempts. Miranda Everett scored 18 points, including two 3-pointers in the victory.

Morgan 58, Spanish Fork 26 » Morgan trounced Spanish Fork at home, scoring 33 points in the first half while allowing only 11. Three players scored in double figures, with Rashel Blazzard continuing her stellar play with 17 points.

Desert Hills 30, Wasatch 23 » In a defensive battle, Desert Hills escaped with a seven-point victory over Wasatch. Blair Bliss led all scorers with 14 points, though no other teammate scored more than five.