Taylorsville • Four-win Springville used a pesky brand of defense and hit timely shots when it counted most to knock out top-seeded Roy 42-32 in Monday’s opening round of the Class 5A girls’ basketball state tournament.
With the score tied 18-18 at the half, Springville coach Camie Oakey challenged her young team at the intermission.
“We came in the locker room and said, ‘You have 16 minutes of basketball left to prove what we’re made of and what we’re capable of, and it’s going to start on the defensive end,’” she said. “Our guard pressure brought the energy and brought the change, and we just executed perfectly what we wanted to do.”
The Red Devils used that defensive pressure to get quick baskets and used a 9-0 run to take a 27-18 lead before Roy center Josie Williams scored her team’s only points of the quarter at the free-throw line. Springville kept up the pressure to outscore the Royals 13-2 in the period.
“Honestly, at the half I knew that we had it,” Springville junior Brooke Galbraith said. “Coming into the game, we were so excited because we knew we could get them. At halftime we knew if we could just execute our defense and just tweak some stuff that we could get them with our defense.”
While the Springville defense was strong in the third, it took some time to get back on track in the fourth. Roy used a 6-0 run to cut its deficit to 31-26. The Red Devils found themselves clinging to a one-possession lead at 33-30 when sophomore guard Ahna Hullinger had the ball stolen away from her with less than three minutes to play.
“You’ve got to get back on D because defense is what wins games,” Hullinger said. “If you lose the ball, you can’t just give up. You’ve got to get back and play.”
Hullinger lived up to her words when she got back and quickly stole the ball back from Roy to stop the Royals’ fast break and start one for Springville. The ball found its way to a streaking Tara Warner, whose layup put the Red Devils up 35-30 just before the game’s defining play.
On the impending inbound, Galbraith stepped in front of Roy’s Brittany Hatch and intercepted the inbound pass. She quickly went up and scored the dagger layup to put her team up 39-30 with just more than 90 seconds remaining.
“The girl taking it out, I saw her make eye contact with [Hatch],” Galbraith said. “I knew I could just step in and finish that left-hand layup.”
That play, according to her coach, is why Galbraith is one of the most valuable players on this season’s Springville squad.
“She’s a good player, but she’s best when she lets the game come to her,” Oakey said. “This type of game plan was great for her because we told the guards to get out and defend and then it opens up the offense on the other end.”
The Springville defense continued to strangle the life out of Roy’s offense, forcing the 24th turnover of the day as the Red Devils pulled off the huge shocker.
SPRINGVILLE 42, ROY 32 <br>• Springville forces 24 turnovers and holds Roy to its lowest scoring total of the season. <br>• Sophomore Breanna Eves leads the team with 11 points and six steals, while junior Brooke Galbraith adds nine points, four rebounds and a steal. <br>• Josie Williams leads Roy with 23 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.