TAYLORSVILLE — Count the Sky View Bobcats girls’ basketball team as a group who believes patience is a virtue, as they demonstrated that skill en route to a 57-49 victory over Snow Canyon High on Thursday in the second round of the 4A Girls’ State Basketball Tournament.

Having lost to Snow Canyon by 15 on December 17th, the Bobcats were looking to exact revenge for a birth in the semifinals of the tournament. Practicing the method that earned them a victory in round one, Sky View found success on the offensive end early by keeping the ball in the hands of Dannika Webb, but Snow Canyon had an answer in Megan Leavitt, as she scored the Warriors’ first five points. The teams must have been nervous, as sloppy play led to a rather frenzied first quarter that found the Bobcats ahead, 15-12.

In the second frame, Snow Canyon continued to go inside to Leavitt with ease, as the Bobcats could never stretch the lead to more than 5 despite Webb and the post players consistently making plays to keep the lead in Sky View’s favor. The Bobcats were finally able to stretch the lead to seven, 26-19, after a Maury Beorchia bucket was followed by a Jessica Duffin 3-pointer late in the quarter. The Warriors made a free throw to go into the break down six, 26-20. Webb had 13 and Leavitt 9.

The two squads made some defensive adjustments in the locker room, as the two hot hands were kept quiet coming out of halftime, as the Warriors switched to a Box-and-1 defense to pay more attention to Webb. It appeared as though the Snow Canyon adjustment wouldn’t be able to contain her, as she connected on the half’s first bucket, a longball at the 6:21 mark that stretched the lead to 9. It would be her only field goal of the second half, but it ignited an 8-0 run as the Bobcats held a 34-20 lead less than two minutes later, thanks to a fast break layup and a Beorchia trey.

Enter Snow Canyon’s Amy Harris and the free throw line. With Sky View having committed 7 fouls in the quarter, the Warriors found themselves in the one-and-one. Make the first foul shot, and you get another try. Harris took advantage of this, connecting on five of six attempts, helping Snow Canyon cut the lead to six, 36-30 despite the Bobcats’ ability to limit Leavitt.

“We had them on the ropes there,” said Sky View coach Paul Hansen. “I think we got out of our flow a little bit,” he said. Patience at that point was needed in abundance, but Webb knew that things would be alright.

“We preach patience,” she said. It’s a good thing too, as the Warriors wouldn’t go away despite strong inside play from Tara Goldman, Linsey Walker and Maddie Day. At the 3:15 mark the Sky View lead was just a single point. A floater from Harris twenty seconds later looked to give Snow Canyon the lead, but she was tied up, and the men with the striped shirts called a travel. Despite never really going away, Snow Canyon just couldn’t get over the top as Sky View did enough on the defensive end and at the foul line to stave off a comeback. Fittingly, Webb made two free throws with ten seconds to go to change the scoreboard. for the final time, 57-49. She finished with 18. Harris led the Warriors with 15 in the loss. With the win, the Bobcats move into a semifinal match on Friday Springville.