'You gotta pick your poison': Lauren Gustin's huge game leads Salem Hills past Logan in state semifinal

Orem • It shocked Lauren Gustin to see only one defender guard her down low in the early going Friday.

The Salem Hills senior star is used to two or three players on her.

When Logan adjusted later and had two or three defenders swarm her later in the game, she found open teammates for outside shots.

The Grizzlies just couldn’t solve Gustin in the Class 4A girls’ basketball state semifinal, so the Skyhawks are moving on to the state title game with the 60-40 win.

About that early single-defender coverage, which Gustin exploited to the tune of 12 points in the first quarter.

“That showed me right away that even if the girls didn’t think they were physically tired, they were mentally tired because the game plan was to have a girl in front and in back of her,” Logan coach Josh Zentner said. “We started in a 1-3-1, and we were supposed to front and back her, and we weren’t doing it.”

Logan adjusted by sucking down on Gustin with multiple defenders when she caught the ball near the basket. But she adjusted too, like when she caught the entry pass and fired it to Hailee Oldroyd for a 3-pointers.

“I’ve never seen a big pass like that, either,” Zentner said. “Her sense of the game, her knowledge of the game — everything is top notch. We have to hope they miss shots, and they’ve got two or three girls who are good shooters. You gotta pick your poison.”

Gustin finished with 36 points, hitting 14 of her 27 attempts. Five of her 14 rebounds were offensive, and she was more than ready to go back up after corralling a miss.

“She is so unselfish,” Salem Hills coach Kyle Francom said. “She scores a lot of points — she scores almost 30 points per game — but she’s incredibly unselfish. She will do whatever she has to do to win. No matter what it is, she’ll do it.”

Gustin was the first one through the postgame handshake line, quickly smacking hands with the Logan players and coaches. As she circled back toward her bench, she was mobbed by teammates for a quick celebration before making their way off the court.

“It means a lot to me,” Gustin said. “We’ve worked so hard this season. Every practice, every drill, we’ve put in 100 percent.”