Fremont clamps down defensively on Hunter to roll into state quarterfinals

Taylorsville • It was quite a drought.

More than a 17-minute drought.

Fremont held Hunter scoreless for the entire second quarter, part of a stretch of more than 17 minutes where the Wolverines went without a point. The Silver Wolves used that stretch to cruise to a 58-20 win in Tuesday’s first round of the Class 6A girls’ basketball state tournament.

“I didn’t even realize that until I was over on the bench,” said Abby Broadbent, who scored 10 points for the victors. “I was like, ‘Wait, they still haven’t scored yet?’ It was kind of weird.”

Silver Wolves coach Lisa Dalebout said it wasn’t unusual for her players not to be aware of the score. And she was gracious about the first-round blowout.

“For real, and I’m not just saying this just to say it, but I did not know the score until the third quarter,” Dalebout said. “I really paid attention to what we were doing defensively, and I think that kind of helps the team set the tone that we’re just worried about possession basketball.”

With freshman post player Emma Calvert scoring 16 points and gathering in 10 rebounds, Fremont immediately opened a working gap by starting the game on an 11-3 run.

Hunter, led by Angel Lui’s 8 points, made the score 14-8 when Lui connected on a 3-point play with 3:42 left in the first quarter.

Then the scoring doldrums set in for the Wolverines (8-15), who didn’t register another point until 2:22 remained in the third period.

“They are a good team, so we didn’t overlook them at all,” Calvert said.

Dalebout said: ”I think our intensity was really nice and our communication was really great. They do some things that are really good. They run sets that are difficult to defend.”

Fremont (20-2) is seeking its second state title. The first came in 2014 when the current Silver Wolves seniors were in eighth grade.

Broadbent is one of those seniors, and she said that Fremont felt more pressure earlier in the season when the team began to be ranked in the state.

“It was at first because not a lot of people knew who we were at the beginning of the season,” she said. “But I think we’re fine. We don’t worry about what people think.”