4A girls basketball championship: Desert Hills wins title over Ridgeline in 2OT thriller

ST. GEORGE — The Desert Hills girls basketball team prevailed in double overtime over top-ranked Ridgeline in the state 4A championship game Wednesday afternoon.

Desert Hills beats Ridgeline and wins the 4A state girls basketball championship, St. George, Utah, Feb. 23, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Desert Hills senior guard Enid Vaifanua scored 13 of her team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime periods, including hitting 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch, as the Thunder came out on top, 58-55.

Vaifanua said  when she made a 3-pointer with 2:06 left in regulation to cut Ridgeline’s lead to one point, it was like a weight had been lifted.

“I was kind of in a rut this whole tournament, but I was trying to stay mentally strong,” Vaifanua told St. George News after the game. “Then, after I lit the three, I was like, it’s time to play. I was let loose.”

Also contributing to Desert Hills balanced scoring attack were center Julia Jacobsen with 14 points and Hannah Heaton and Alivia Cluff with 10 apiece.

Ridgeline, which came into the came with a 24-1 overall record and a No. 1 ranking, got 17 points from standout guard Emilee Skinner, who picked up her fifth foul early in the first overtime. Macie Brown added 14 points for the Riverhawks.

It marked the second girls basketball state title in Desert Hills High School history, with the first one coming in 2014.

Jacobsen scored the first four points of the game, making a layup on the first possession and an inside shot on the second at the Thunder took an early 4-0 lead.

After missing its first couple shots, Ridgeline got on the scoreboard with a three-point play by Skinner. The Riverhawks then scored a basket on their next possession to go up 5-4.

Following a pair of missed free throws, Jacobsen then made a steal and a layup to put the Thunder up again 6-5, but Ridgeline’s Brown answered inside, putting the Riverhawks back on top, 7-6.

Cluff then hit a 3-pointer to give the Thunder a 9-7 lead, but Ridgeline soon tied it up again.

Desert Hills beats Ridgeline and wins the 4A state girls basketball championship, St. George, Utah, Feb. 23, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

That tie was broken by a Skinner 3-pointer with 1:40 left in the first quarter, giving Ridgeline a 12-9 lead. Desert Hills then turned the ball over, after which Brown again scored inside to make it 14-9 for the Riverhawks. That score stood until the end of the first quarter.

Desert Hills missed a couple shots on its first possession of the second quarter, with Ridgeline scoring on an inside shot at the other end to take a 16-9 lead.

Neither team scored on its next few possessions, but Desert Hills’ Hannah Heaton made a steal and a layup with 4:30 left in the second quarter to bring the Thunder within five, 16-11.

Jacobsen then made two of four free throws on successive possessions as the Thunder narrowed the gap to three points, 16-13, at the midway point of the second quarter.

Both teams came up empty-handed on their next couple possessions, but Ridgeline’s Brinley Wiese hit a 3-pointer from left wing at the 3-minute mark, putting the Hawks up by six, 19-13. A couple minutes later, teammate Brooke Berrett hit another trey from the same spot.

Desert Hills guard Sa’de Turlington scored a layup off a steal to make it 22-15, but Paige Dahle drilled yet another trey to give Ridgeline a 10-point lead, 25-15.

Jacobsen did get off a shot from inside the key just before the halftime buzzer but it fell short, and Ridgeline took a 10-point lead into the halftime break.

The second half started slowly, with both teams seeing multiple missed shots and turnovers over the first couple minutes.  Vaifanua then made a left-side driving layup to make it 25-17 with 5:50 left in the third.

Over the next few minutes, Desert Hills chipped away at Ridgeline’s lead, with Cluff closing the deficit to a single point with a free throw with 1:20 left in the third. Ridgeline stayed ahead, however, taking a 33-29 lead at the end of the third period.

Early in the fourth quarter, Skinner extended Ridgeline’s lead to six with a driving bank shot that made it 37-31 with 6:30 left in regulation.

Then, with 1:35 left, Vaifanua hit a pair of free throws to give Desert Hills its first lead since the opening quarter, 45-44.

Ridgeline’s Elise Livingston then made one of two free throws to tie the game at 45, affer which neither team was able to score again over the last 1:23 of regulation. Ridgeline’s final shot attempt was blocked.

Desert Hills beats Ridgeline and wins the 4A state girls basketball championship, St. George, Utah, Feb. 23, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

Vaifanua scored first in the first OT, making one of two free throws on the play that sent Skinner to the bench with her fifth foul. The Thunder would go on to lead by three points on two different occasions, but Ridgeline’s Brown tied the game up again 51-51 with a pair of FTs with 11.2 seconds remaining.

Turlington’s final shot attempt in the first overtime then fell short, sending the game into a second OT.

Ridgeline scored first in the second OT, but Desert Hills converted back-to-back buckets to take a 55-53 lead. Ridgeline appeared to answer immediately with a driving layup but was whistled for an offensive foul on the play.

Turlington then added a free throw to make it 56-53. Ridgeline’s Brown then drove inside to make it 56-55 for the Thunder with 1:30 left. The only scoring from that point on was a pair of free throws by Vaifanua.

Although Turlington missed two free throws with 4.6 seconds left, Jacobsen pulled down the rebound to ice the win.

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