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CEDAR CITY — After a long week on the campus of Southern Utah University, the 2A girls basketball championships ended with a 59-47 win for the Kanab Cowboys.
The Cowboys jumped out on top early and never let the North Summit Braves catch a glimpse of the lead.
Kanab struck first, but not until two minutes of play were wasted. Savannah Bateman hit a 3-pointer to start the scoring and gave Kanab the spark they needed to get going.
They were aggressive on both ends of the court, which worked to their advantage but also resulted in a number of fouls. Most were non-shooting fouls, but when North Summit did make it to the line, they went 0-of-3. Bateman continued to find success from beyond the arc, hitting another 3-pointer and putting her team up 18-7 at the end of the first eight minutes.
North Summit started to find some rhythm as the second quarter began. They scored the first 4 points to creep toward Kanab's lead, but struggled on the defensive end. They especially had trouble guarding Kanab's Rylee Little, who scored 6 points in the quarter, all from attacking the paint.
Despite the offensive success, the Braves were unable to make up any ground and went into the half trailing 32-20.
During halftime, North Summit's Presley Peterson must have realized what was at stake, put her foot on the gas and hit a 3-pointer almost the second she stepped foot on the court; Peterson scored 6 of her team's 9 points in the quarter. It was the lowest scoring period for Kanab after putting up 10 points, but they maintained a 42-29 edge.
Peterson kept up her pace in the final quarter, this time accompanied by Chezlie Langston and Hartlynn Richins. The trio combined for 18 points, but it hardly made a dent in the deficit. Bateman and Little put up 6 points each, keeping up their intensity and walking away with their third 2A championship in as many years.
Despite the loss, Peterson led all scorers with 16 points, followed by Richins' 12. Bateman and Little drove the Kanab offense with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Little was also the only player on the court with a double-double after chasing down 12 rebounds.
