Draper APA and Duchesne face off in the 2A quarterfinals
Draper APA 67, Duchesne 62
No. 3 Draper American Prep Academy held off a late push from No. 6 Duchesne to take the 67-62 win Thursday in the girls 2A quarterfinals at SUU.
The two stayed even throughout the first quarter, but it was in the second when Draper APA started to separate itself from Duchesne. Draper APA put up 25 points in the second quarter to take a 42-39 halftime lead.
Draper APA continued to push its lead in the third quarter but this time it came at the hands of its defense which kept Duchesne at 10 points in the quarter.
The fourth quarter is when things started to crack as Duchesne opened with a 10-0 run to get the game within 60-57.
“Duchesne prepared for us better than we prepped for them,” said Draper APA head coach Dan Baldwin.
“In the second quarter the teams were kind of feeling each other out and one found the holes. Out of the break (Duchesne) made adjustments, and we started forcing things and not playing in our system. I think Duchesne’s effort and adjustments is what made that game so close.”
The Draper APA offense struggled to close the game and only scored one field goal in the fourth quarter. The more Draper APA came up empty handed on offense the more frustrated it started to play.
“They had all the momentum going into the fourth and we had nothing but frustration,” said Baldwin.
“We had frustration with each other, frustrated with our individual performances and we started forcing it. We tried too hard to be individually great instead of great together.”
Despite the Duchesne run, Draper APA played smart defense with timely fouls and defensive stands to keep its lead.
Duchesne tied the game in the fourth quarter but that’s as close as it got to taking the lead.
Baldwin said a close win over South Sevier on Feb. 2 gave his team much-needed experience to pull out the quarterfinal win.
“A couple weeks ago we had a game with South Sevier and that win taught us how to approach (close games) in a different way,” he said.
“Usually, we’re a space and pace team and we play fast and we didn’t score our average that game so that game was key to teach us how to win this one.”
Aaliyah Baldwin led Draper APA with 23 points (including two 3-pointers), eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.