Round Mountain downs Beatty, advances to state

Round Mountain junior forward Alyssa Hanks posted another double-double, scoring 26 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, to help her team overcome Beatty 55-36 at Sunrise Mountain High School on Friday. The Knights qualified for the state tournament and knocked the Hornets out of the regional playoffs.

However, the Lady Knights destroyed in the Class 1A Southern Region championship to Pahranagat Valley, 53-31, on Saturday.

Hanks and teammate, senior guard Hannah Swafford, proved too much for the Hornets on Friday as the two combined for 40 points. Swafford had 14 points and five assists.

Knights coach Jake Topholm liked how well his team played against Beatty in the semifinal, but also had some good words for the Hornets as well.

“Beatty was very scrappy and played hard the entire game,” Topholm said. “It really hurt them when the Gil girl got in foul trouble early and she eventually went out of the game with a knee injury.”

Against Pahranagat Valley, Hanks and Swafford hit a wall.

Topholm said the Panthers limited Hanks to 15 points.

“It was tough to get Alyssa open when she is being doubled and your shooters are struggling from the floor,” Topholm said. “They did a great job of shutting Hannah down, holding her scoreless for the game.”

“It was more than we had hoped from her,” Pahranagat Valley coach Amy Huntsman said of Hanks to the Review-Journal. “We hoped for 10 or less, but we’ll take 15 and the win.”

Topholm said his team set out to shut down Karley Whipple.

“We tried to box the Whipple girl and take her away, which I think we did a good job of,” he said. “We limited her to four points. We just didn’t shoot the ball well against them in the championship game, and the Frehner girl (Allyse) did for them, hitting four 3-pointers.”

Both Round Mountain and Pahranagat Valley advance to state. The Knights are seeking their first state championship, and this is their third trip to state in three years. Pahranagat Valley is hoping to capture their 16th state title.

Round Mountain (15-7) will play the top-seeded Eureka team at Durango High School on Friday at 3 p.m., and Pahranagat Valley (16-8) plays last year’s state champion, Owyhee, at 6:30 p.m., also at Durango.

Boys basketball

The Beatty boys basketball team (14-6) fell to Pahranagat Valley (24-2) in their semifinal game on Friday, 74-29.

Pahranagat Valley and Spring Mountain both advance to state and play Friday. The Panthers beat the Eagles for the regional championship on Saturday 51-33 and will be playing for their 15th state title and first since 2013.

The Panthers will play Owyhee at Durango High School at 8:15 p.m. and Spring Mountain (14-11) will play Mineral County at 4:45 p.m.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com