The West High girls basketball team had played a near-perfect season coming into Friday afternoon’s Utah 5A state championship game at the Huntsman Center. Undefeated against in-state opponents, its only loss on the year was against national powerhouse Mater Dei from Santa Ana, California, in December.
In most other seasons, West likely would have finished as the 5A champs, but unfortunately for the Panthers, they ran into Pleasant Grove.
This season, the Vikings weren’t just nearly perfect, they were perfect. Pleasant Grove’s 45-30 victory over West cemented an undefeated 26-0 season and the first state title in program history.
“I’m retiring,” first-year head coach Angela Villa jokingly said after capping off her inaugural coaching season with a state title. “I don’t even know how to even talk about topping it after this.”
Villa and the Vikings were tasked with trying to slow down the state’s leader in scoring, assists and steals, Kylee Falatea (26.8 points, 8.1 assists and 6.8 steals per game).
“Our goal really was just to slow her down,” Villa said, “because when she gets going, it just snowballs.”
Villa highlighted taking away Falatea’s passing lanes so that West would become one-dimensional on offense. And it worked. Falatea did not record a single assist in Friday’s game, and turned the ball over three times. The Vikings also managed to hold the Oregon commit to only 14 points on 6-of-21 shooting.
Much of the Vikings’ stellar defensive play could be attributed to coach Villa’s daughter, Sutton, a 6-foot-6 sophomore who clogged the lane for any potential Panther looking to drive into the paint.
Sutton Villa, who is 3 inches taller than the tallest player on the University of Utah’s women’s basketball team, finished the game with four blocks, including two on West’s Falatea.
“Not everyone gets to play with such a tall person like [Suton Villa],” Viking point guard Janiece Sikander said. “I trust her that if somebody beats me, she’ll block the shot.”
Sikander also benefited from Sutton Villa’s gravity on offense and screen-setting ability. Sikander finished the game with 21 points — only nine less than the entire West team — with most of her production coming from pick and roll sets with her center.
“I’m really proud of [Sikander] and all that she did today,” coach Villa said about her junior point guard. “She was like, ‘Sutton’s not getting her shots? Fine. My 5-foot-2 self is gonna step into it.’”
A large portion of Pleasant Grove’s production is made up of underclassmen, including Sikander and Sutton Villa. Angela Villa thinks this title could be the start of a special run for the Vikings.
“We want to create a legacy at Pleasant Grove,” coach Villa said. “My goal is to create a legacy and not be a one-and-done team.”
“I plan to be here long after Sutton is gone. I got a fourth grader coming up who may be a little taller than Sutton,” coach Villa said, “so I want to be here for the long haul.”
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