Ogden • Fourth-place teams aren’t supposed to win quarterfinal games by 20 points in the Class 3A state girls’ basketball tournament.
Yet that’s exactly what Dixie did Thursday evening, as it used its size advantage and suffocating zone defense to run over Carbon 43-23 at the Dee Events Center.
"We were placed as a four seed and maybe as an underdog, but we should have been a first seed," Dixie senior forward Caroline Lantor said. "We are really confident. We’re ready to play, and we’re ready to win."
Lantor scored a game-high 15 points, including 10 in the third quarter, and the Flyers (15-7) advanced to meet Region 9 mate Cedar (19-4) in Friday’s semifinals.
Carbon (16-7), stuck on the perimeter as it tried to solve the Dixie zone defense, hurt itself with 14 first-half turnovers, including four on its first five possessions.
The Dinos’ only basket of the first quarter came with two seconds left on an Annika Hansen putback. They managed just one basket in the second quarter as well, and shot 2 for 16 in the half.
Carbon finished just 8 for 31 in the game, with 17 turnovers. Shelby Cornforth, the Dinos’ leading scorer in the regular season, scored just two points.
"That’s what we’ve been concentrating on all year," Dixie coach Ken Robinson said of his team’s defense. "In our region there are some very good teams, and there’s consistently a 15- to 20-point drop in their averages when we play them."
Lantor went to work in the third quarter to thwart the Dinos’ hopes of a rally. She made her team’s only 3-pointer, then followed with a one-handed scoop shot in the paint and another basket near the rim to put Dixie up by 19 late in the quarter.
The Flyers, who have never won a state championship in girls’ basketball, turned their sights to Cedar, a team that beat them twice by a total of 10 points in the regular season.
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"We are super excited to play them," Lantor said. "We’re ready to get them this time."
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