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Cedar City • Madison Mooring looked like she needed oxygen at times. Shaylee Reed did her share to pick up the slack, especially at the free-throw line.

The senior duo did just enough to push Snow Canyon to the top of the 3A championship summit.

Reed finished with 27 points — including a 13-of-15 effort from the free-throw line — and Mooring added 16 as the Warriors rallied in the fourth quarter and beat the Cedar Lady Reds 58-54 at the Centrum on Saturday afternoon. Snow Canyon finished the season with a 24-2 record and avenged its last loss, which came at Cedar on Jan. 28.

Warriors head coach Dan Roden had no doubt in his mind who the Most Valuable Player was, and not just from his team.

"Shaylee should be the 3A MVP, honestly," Roden said. "She was definitely the tournament MVP for all the things she does for our team. She makes things happen."

Cedar (20-6) led most of the way, but Snow Canyon got a big 3-pointer from Nikenna Durante — her only points of the game — to put them up for the first time since early in the first quarter at 53-52 with one minute left.

After the Lady Reds missed at their end, Mooring hit two free throws with 37.9 seconds to play that put SC up by three. Carley Davis answered with a basket for Cedar that sliced the lead back to one, but Mooring stepped to the line and could only split a pair from the free-throw line.

With 15.7 seconds showing on the clock, the Lady Reds had a chance to repeat their buzzer-beating effort of Friday night in the semifinal win over Carbon, but a pass went out of bounds into the team's bench.

That left Reed to provide the potential game-sealing points at the line. There were 6.1 seconds on the clock, but it may have felt like 6.1 years to Snow Canyon.

No problem for Reed, who was a combined 28 of 30 in the Warriors' quarterfinal win over Richfield and Saturday's showing against the Lady Reds.

"We have a lot of heart and we believe in each other," said Reed, who averaged nearly 22 points per game in the Warriors' three wins at the Centrum. "Our preparation just met our opportunity, and we were ready."

Reed swished both free throws to stretch the lead to four, and when the remaining time ticked safely away, the Warriors rejoiced in knowing they were finally the 3A state champions for the second time in the last five seasons (2012).

"Everyone knew this was what we wanted," Reed said. "When we got behind, we kept our hearts in it and just kept pushing."

Cedar got 17 points from senior Courtney Morley and 12 each from Davis and Jessica Whetman in its first trip to a state final in the program's history. Head coach John Elison said while the breaks were flowing the Lady Reds' way after a buzzer-beating victory over Carbon in the semifinals, the well dried up in the final.

"We had so many things [Friday] night that went our way, but at some point, they're not always going to do that," Elison said. "It's tough to maintain the lead, and when you have one lapse against a team like this, they're going to nail you with it. You've got to give them credit for finishing."

The Lady Reds led most of the way, but never by more than five points. Whetman said the Warriors were too much to handle at the end.

"When they caught up, it deflated us a little, but motivated us more," Whetman said. "We wanted to keep going, but we just couldn't pull it out in the end." —

Snow Canyon 58, Cedar 54

R Shaylee Reed scores 27 points and makes 13 of 15 free throws, including the two that clinched the game with 6.1 seconds left.

• Madison Mooring adds 16 points for the Warriors, who claim their second state title in five years.

• Senior Courtney Morley scores 17 for the Lady Reds, who lead for most of the game but run out of gas in their first title appearance.