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Grantsville rallies to stun South Sevier in final seconds

(Justin Giles | For The Tribune) Ashlee Edwards, Grantsville High.

St. George • Grantsville led for less than 10 seconds in Thursday’s Class 3A girls’ basketball state quarterfinal against South Sevier, but it was all the Cowboys needed.

Sophomore guard Ashlee Edwards stole the ball after a missed free-throw attempt and drove to the basket to make the game-winning shot with 7.5 seconds left to give the Cowboys a 49-47 come-from-behind victory as time expired at the Burns Arena.

“It’s amazing,” Edwards said. “We came out anxious to start and got down early, but we came back. We didn’t stop believing.”

Grantsville coach Megan Vera said: “We have a great group of girls and they all have confidence in each other. The girls came out focused in the second half and battled, and I could not be prouder of them.”

Grantsville was led by Edwards, who had a team-high 10 points and added two steals. Hannah Butler just missed out on a double-double as the junior had nine points and 10 rebounds. Madison Fields had eight points and three rebounds, and sophomore guard Ellie Wilson added seven points, five rebounds and two assists.

Vera told the team in the last timeout to get to the basket. That’s exactly what Edwards did as she chased down the ball before ripping it out of the arms of Kenzi Jones before driving to the basket.

“I knew I had to make the shot. Luckily, I didn’t miss it,” Edwards said.

The Rams jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to back-to-back baskets by Kaylie Jenson before Grantsville took a timeout to settle down things.

But South Sevier continued to control the game and pushed the lead to as big as nine at 27-18 just before the half. However, Grantsville’s Sarah Ellett, who had a game-high three steals, knocked down a long-range 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 27-21 at the half.

With each run by the Cowboys, the Rams answered back with big baskets by Mattie Blackburn, Kamree Peterson and Jones. Junior forward Kaylie Jenson had a game-high 16 points and six rebounds in the loss.

But with their backs against the wall, the Cowboys answered and rallied to stun the Rams in heartbreaking fashion.

Grantsville pushed its winning streak to eight games and will take on Emery Friday’s 5:50 p.m. state semifinal.