The Kanab Lady Cowboys ended their basketball season last week with some heartbreak, but not after a tremendous season. Coming off a first place region title, and a 15-4 overall record, they were primed for a state championship run, and that’s exactly what they did.
A thriller in the semi-finals against the #1 ranked Layton Christian Academy saw freshman Anna Cutler drill the go-ahead bucket from three with seconds remaining to send the Cowboys to the championship.
As part of state Covid-19 guidelines, Kanab High School was given a limited amount of tickets for the championship game to allow for proper social distancing. Kanab always travels well, and it was no exception for the championship game in Richfield to support the Lady Cowboys.
The first quarter saw the girls trailing 19-17, as the Lady Cowboys were able to hold the North Summit Braves run-and-gun scoring attack in check.
The second quarter was a different story as the Braves were off to the races, outscoring the Cowboys 21-5, which the Cowboys never fully recovered from.
Kanab put a dent in the lead, and recovered in the third frame, outscoring the Braves 15-12, but could never really overcome from the second quarter deficit. Even after a 13-0 Cowboy run, the Braves finished off the Cowboys 65-48.
A highlight of the game was the scoring battle between North Summit’s Marci Richins and Kanab’s Grayce Glover. Grayce dropped in 28, while Richins put in 30, as they went back and forth all night.
Assistant Coach Clayton Cutler shared,“The entire season we never felt we had an easy game. We knew that any team we faced had the ability to beat us. Coach Glover did a great job of keeping our girls focused on what we did well. We adapted offense and defense that played to our team strengths so that we gave ourselves the opportunity to beat any team we faced.”
Head Coach Klint Glover noted, “The game didn’t quite go like we’d hoped. North Summit is a great team and we needed them to get into foul trouble instead of us. I liked how we didn’t quit in either of the last two.
“We kind of turned into a scrappy team as the season developed. Winning our region required the girls to win a lot of close, hard fought games. Lots of girls contributed in different ways at different times during the season.
“Our success was truly a team effort with Covid and various injuries taking girls at different times. Through it all there were girls that stepped up and took on different roles to help us win. Lots of effort on defense by everyone and a couple of girls who have put a lot of time into their basketball skills are a couple of keys that I would point to. I’d like to thank all of the girls for buying in and sacrificing for the team. It’s fun to see when a little sacrifice by everyone pays off. One of these years we will win the big one!”
