(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Copper Hills bench celebrates one of three consecutive 3-point shots during second half play as Copper Hills defeated East 82-62, Friday, December 29, 2017.
West Jordan • The undefeated East Leopards weren’t playing quite up to par when they paid a visit to once-beaten Copper Hills on Friday night.
And, with the usual stuff not working early in a girls’ high school basketball game, that turned out to be bad news for East.
That’s because, for the host Grizzlies, everything was.
In an 82-62 victory, Copper Hills had the inside play of Taela Laufiso and Lenisi Fineanganofo supplemented by the all-around maneuvering of junior Breaunna Gillen as well as the passing from point guard Eleyana Tafisi.
If that weren’t enough, two reserves came off the bench to swish three 3-pointers each.
“It was different girls every time. In this kind of game, I really wasn’t unhappy with our effort — they were just on fire,” East coach Junior Solovi said. “You tip the hat to the team that beat you. You don’t make excuses, you don’t blame refs. It happens.”
After East (7-1) scored the first three points of the game, the first onslaught from Copper Hills (10-1) took place. Fineanganofo, who finished with 14 points, had a couple of buckets sandwiched around a 3-pointer from Gillen, who finished with 20.
That was the beginning of a 17-2 run, which ended with consecutive treys by backup Sam Rollins, as the Grizzlies raced to the lead.
Rollins and Kaci Bobo both came off the bench to squelch attempted comebacks by the Leopards. And the long-range bomb was the weapon of choice for both.
In the second quarter, Copper Hills reeled off another 14 points in a row for a 39-15 advantage. When East finally ended the run on a basket by Lani Taliauli, Bobo immediately swished a 3-pointer from the corner.
Taliauli had 17 points while Liana Kaitu’u had 20 for the Leopards.
In the second half, Kaitu’u found her outside stroke and hit a pair of 3s late in the third quarter. But Bobo answered both of those shots with 3-point makes of her own.
“It was way fun to see it. Everyone working together and getting a chance,” Gillen said.
“What I liked the most was the way we shared the ball on offense. We had several players with multiple assists,” Copper Hills coach Ben Morley said. “Defensively, I wish we would have finished a little bit better, but offensively we had so many players who played great.”
The Grizzlies had five players end in double figures. Laufiso had 13 points while Bobo (13 points) and Rollins (11) also reached the mark.
“Our bench really played well in this game. That was huge,” Morley said. “When you’ve got players making shots from the perimeter, that opens up the middle. When we do that, we’re tough to defend.”
Storylines<br> • Copper Hills has runs of 17-2 in the first quarter and 14-0 in the second to roll away from East.<br> • The Grizzlies are led by Breaunna Gillen’s 20 points while Lenisi Fineanganofo had 14. Taela Laufiso and Kaci Bobo add 13 for Copper Hills.<br> • East, which suffers its first loss of the season, gets 20 from Liana Kaitu’u while post Lani Taliauli adds 17.
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