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Spanish Fork • Bountiful was motivated going into their game with Maple Mountain and it showed. The Braves, who were knocked out of the state tournament by the Golden Eagles last year, got some sweet revenge and came away victorious 62-55.

Despite a huge second half by Liz Eaton, Maple Mountain couldn't stick with the Braves. Eaton had just 1 point in the first half because of foul trouble but erupted for 21 points in the second half.

Bountiful head coach Joel Burton knew how important it was to get the win against a team who beat them last year.

"I was really quite impressed with their composure. As we start the season, we build towards these big games. This is one they have been looking forward to all season long. I was concerned they were going to be a little bit nervous coming into here because it was such a big one and because they knocked us out of state last year," said Burton.

The game was close for the better part of the first half, but with Eaton on the bench for most of the 2nd quarter, Maple Mountain couldn't get anything going offensively.

Bountiful's plan was to limit the amount of touches that Eaton got. They did a good job of this, but Burton knows his team could have done better.

"We wanted to keep the ball out of Eaton's hands. I thought we did a good job of doing that in the first half but in the second half, we fell on our faces a little bit. You have to give credit to her though, she's a really good player."

Bountiful quickly extended their lead early in the 2nd half with some pin point 3 point shooting, and found themselves with a 13 point lead midway through the third quarter.

The Golden Eagles had no answer for Bountiful standout Kennedy Redding though, who had 29 points on the night and was 9/14 from the free throw line.

Bountiful had the slight edge from the free throw line, shooting 67% while Maple Mountain was 58%.

The deficit proved to be too much to overcome and Bountiful handed Maple Mountain their first loss of the season.

"This group of kids are looking at it one game at a time. They're just excited to play each and every game," said Burton. —

Storylines

R Liz Eaton had 21 points in the second half.

• Kennedy Redding had 29 points for the game.

• Bountiful got revenge on Maple Mountain, who knocked them out of state last year.