Springville is a victory away from a second straight class 1A state championship. The top ranked Orioles got 32 points and 10 rebounds from junior Mikayla Nachazel to beat seventh ranked Kingsley-Pierson 61-43 in Thursday’s semifinals. It will be the Orioles third straight appearance in the title game.
“We feel so comfortable here and we feel like this is where we were supposed to be”, said Nachazel. “It is so relaxing I don’t feel any pressure at all.”
Kingsley-Pierson trailed 37-16 at halftime but made a strong third quarter run that saw them get to within 10 before Springville answered with an 8-0 run to put the game away. The Panthers finish the season with a record of 24-2.
Springville faces a Friday night rematch against Turkey Valley. The second ranked Trojans outscored third rated Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 8-6 in overtime for a 48-46 victory.
“I thought our girls played really hard today which we knew we had to come in and do that”, said Turkey Valley coach Carletta Nymeyer. “Just a great effort. We are excited to be in this spot again and the girls are elated.”
Exira-EHK had plenty of chances but the Spartans finished the game 0-15 from three point range.