Taylorsville • There were many factors that helped Timpview earn an easy 58-37 victory over Box Elder in Wednesdays state quarterfinals of the Class 5A girls’ basketball state tournament.
There was the fast start thanks to the scoring by Taylor Ross and Shalyn Fano as the Thunderbirds hit six of their first seven shots.
And there was the second-half scoring of Jasmine Espinoza, who outscored Box Elder 15-3 at one point to help Timpview roar to a 26-point lead.
But perhaps the biggest unsung hero was Ella Pope, who put the clamps on Box Elder’s Emily Isaacson, whose scoring fueled a first-round upset of Region 8 champion Skyridge on Monday.
“For sure, that was the plan,” Timpview coach Aimee Dorais said. “We knew what the matchup was, and she knew Isaacson’s game. She did a really good job staying disciplined and making Isaacson try to play over the top.”
Pope wasn’t about to take much credit for stopping Box Elder’s star.
“It was hard,” she said. “She was a good player. Coach definitely scouted out the team before the game. She uses back screens, and the team handled it really well. The team did a great job of playing off the screens, which was awesome. That’s what my team did to stop her so she wouldn’t get open.”
The strategy held Isaacson to 12 points, and Box Elder could not find another player to step up and fill in the void.
The Bees could not take advantage of a Timpview cold streak where the Thunderbirds went more than five minutes without scoring. Box Elder cut the lead to 15-11 early in the second quarter, but Timpview ended the half with a flourish to take a 26-15 lead and never let the Bees get back into the game.
“The tournament — it’s a different animal,” said Dorais, whose team got 19 points from Espinoza, 15 from Ross and 14 from Fano. “You can be up 20 or down 20, and it normally doesn’t stay that way. Someone is going to make a push and someone is going to let off the gas a little bit. The goal, regardless of the circumstances, is just don’t stop.”
Timpview never stopped, which is why the Thunderbirds find themselves crashing the Region 6 party of East, Skyline and surprising Highland when they meet the Eagles in Friday’s semifinals.
TIMPVIEW 58, BOX ELDER 37 <br>• Jasmine Espinoza scores 15 or her 19 points in the second half as Timpview won’t let Box Elder come back. <br>• Thunderbird Ella Pope largely is responsible for holding Box Elder star Emily Isaacson to 12 points. <br>• Taylor Ross and Shalyn Fans key Timpview’s early run as the Thunderbirds never trail.