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Millville • Add another first for the first-year Ridgeline boys' basketball team.

First playoff win.

The Riverhawks, who won the region title on their way to making their first playoff appearance, rode a monumental second-half performance from senior Jaxon Brenchley in a 72-59 comeback victory over Hurricane in Friday's Class 3A playoff opener.

"I knew we were going to win that game," Brenchley said. "We have a belief as a team that we are going to win. We're not going out in the first round. We're not getting upset, not on our home floor."

That was the message Brenchley delivered at halftime after the Riverhawks entered the locker room trailing 36-31.

"We kind of came out lackadaisical," senior big man Dallan Larsen said about Ridgeline's performance in the opening half. "We were being selfish, we weren't going up for rebounds, our defense wasn't on par with what it usually is. We just didn't come out like the team we needed to be."

While the Riverhawks came out with more energy in the second half, they still struggled to slow the Tigers' shooters. After sophomore Landon Brenchely hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 38-38, Hurricane responded with a 9-2 run thanks to 3s from Josh Parker and Jackson Last.

The Ridgeline defense finally began to force the issue as deflections and steals began to turn into explosive offense near the end of the third quarter.

"We knew that we were a better defensive team," Larsen said. "The first possession in the second half, we were talking more, we were moving faster. Coach had just really woken us up and got us to play the defense we needed to play."

When the defense took over, so too did Brenchely. He became an unstoppable force in the open court. Steals led to easy baskets for the future Running Ute, and he put an exclamation point on his team's third-quarter run with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to put the Riverhawks on top 52-51.

"In the open floor, there's not much you can do to stop him once he gets going full speed to the basket," Ridgeline coach Graydon Buchmiller said about Brenchely. "Jaxon is pretty remarkable. We're pretty lucky to have someone like that playing with us."

Ridgeline began to pull away in the fourth quarter behind Brenchley's 30-point, six-rebound and five-assist performance.

"There's always points in the game where stuff is just not clicking with the team," Brenchley said. "Sometimes I have to take over and make plays happen to get us rolling again. We knew [Hurricane] was good, we knew they had some guys that could heat up and they got some good shots tonight. But I knew we were going to win that game. I just stayed calm and let [the game] come and attack." —

Ridgeline 72, Hurricane 59

• Jaxon Brenchley scores 30 points, grabs six rebounds to pace the Riverhawks.

• Ridgeline will face Carbon in the 3A quarterfinals.

• Hurricane's Josh Parker led the Tigers with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

Class 3A playoffs

Stansbury 44, North Sanpete 43

Desert Hills 49, Bear River 41

Ridgeline 72, Hurricane 59

Carbon 54, Tooele 46

Dixie 55, Logan 53

Canyon View 71, Union 47

Richfield 53, Grantsville 41

Juan Diego 47, Pine View 42

Quarterfinals

at Utah State University

Thursday

9:30 a.m. • Stansbury vs. Desert Hills

11:10 a.m. • Ridgeline vs. Carbon

12:50 p.m. • Dixie vs. Canyon View

2:30 p.m. • Richfield vs. Juan Diego