Wasatch celebrates during the first quarter against West in the quarterfinals for 5A high school boys basketball at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.
Megan Nielsen, Deseret News
Wasatch 55, West 50
It has been 15 years since the Wasatch girls have won a state basketball championship. Coach Audrey Hull and her team took another step forward Saturday to get back to those glory days.
Peyton Behnke scored 16 points and Asley Garner had 12 and a game-high 15 rebounds as the Wasps held off West in 5A quarterfinal action at the University of Utah’s Jon M. Huntsman Center.
With the win, the second-seeded Wasps advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals, where they will face the No. 22 seed, Springville.
Even though her squad won its 20th game, Hull can’t look past the Red Devils. That was the same message she preached about West, too.
“I’m really grateful to just be here,” she said. “I was happy with the way we came out strong and got that lead, but I’ve been a coach for a long time and one thing you know about a state tournament game is that the other team is always going to come back.
“You can never get comfortable.”
Wasatch led for much of this game, helped by the inside strength of the 6-foot-2 Garner, a second team all-state pick last year who is averaging 18 points and 14 rebounds per game this season.
West had some success in keeping her from getting into a rhythm by using a hustling defense and plenty of fouls, but Wasatch has some depth.
Hull said she was happy with the play of defensive specialist Kate Miller, who was also an offensive threat with nine points. Danielle Garber also had a good game off the bench with five points and three rebounds.
Although Wasatch was in control, the game got particularly interesting in the final quarter. After Wasatch built a 13-point lead, the seventh-seeded Panthers rallied by going at Wasatch’s strength.
Fina Tuha (14 points), Kaydence Falatea (11) and Kylee Falatea (10) led a rally that got the Panthers within four, but while the West fans made as much noise as they could, Garner hit a shot inside and then nabbed a missed West attempt to end the threat.
West actually outrebounded the Wasps, but its shooting woes (32%) were too much to overcome, and many of the Panthers’ baskets were bunched together in the last seven minutes.
With the loss, West ended another impressive season. Under coach Olosaa (Junior) Solovi, the Panthers took third in Region 6 and ended with a 16-7 overall mark.