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Copper Hills has torn through opponents in its opening seven games, with four wins against Region 3 opponents American Fork, Westlake, Skyridge and a 52-47 victory Tuesday against defending 6A state champion Lone Peak.
While the Grizzlies ultimately won Tuesday, they got in trouble early as Lone Peak jumped out to a 7-0 start.
Grizzlies head coach Jake Timpson took a quick timeout to stop the bleeding and following the break, Copper Hills outscored Lone Peak 17-7 for a 17-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The run didn’t stop there, as Copper Hills used a lot of off-ball movement to generate some open looks and was rewarded with a 33-22 halftime lead.
The star of the season so far for the Grizzlies is Ellie Taylor, who is averaging 19 points per game and dropped 28 points Tuesday.
Taylor boosted the first-half lead by scoring 11 points in the second quarter and also shined on defense with three blocks in the win.
It comes as no surprise, as Taylor earned 2022-23 6A All-State first team recognition last season.
“My confidence this year has been way better,” said Taylor. “You got to have a ‘next play’ mentality. My coaches have always been telling me that all four years of varsity basketball.
“You have to do it because no matter what, you have to get back on defense. If shots don’t fall, you have to be there to guard their shooters. You have to support your teammates. I can’t play me ball, I have to play team ball. It’s all about my team.”
While Copper Hills went into the half with a healthy lead, Lone Peak didn’t go down that easy. Out of the half, Lone Peak’s defense kept Copper Hills out of the paint and forced the Grizzlies to take low-quality shots.
The Knights used defense to generate offense, and while they only took the lead for a few possessions, the comeback kept the game within striking distance.
“(Lone Peak plays) an aggressive, man-style defense,” said Timpson, “so we knew we were going to have to have a lot of movement there. They have great defenders who really get up and guard, so we knew if we were going to get good shots, we had to cut to the basket, we got to make the extra pass, see the court, and I felt like we did that pretty well in the first half, but in the second half, we kind of got away from it.
“We kind of relied on the 3-pointer too much and it wasn’t falling, but credit to my girls who just kept battling even through the adversity and that’s my message all the time, if they’re going to punch, are we going to get knocked down, or are we going to punch back?”
As the game wound down, Ayla Marston found a cutting Taylor for a layup, then Taylor followed it up with two late free throws to put Lone Peak away.
“It’s hard to describe Ellie,” said Timpson. “She is so talented, and she does a lot for our team, offensively and defensively. She’s a really hard person to guard (and) you don’t want her to defend you because she’s got incredible length and anticipation, so she was huge for us both on the offensive end and the defensive end.”
The win marks seven in a row for Copper Hills, which stands with Davis as the only undefeated 6A teams left.
While Copper Hills is happy for the strong start, they know it’s a long season.
“We got to stay humble, we got to stay hungry,” said Taylor. “We have something to prove this year and nothing is handed to us. We have to work for every win. We aren’t playing our best basketball right now, but that’s OK because we’re working to get better every day.”
