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The UHSAA girls’ 4A state championship game was filled with past and future Brigham Young Cougars on Saturday at Salt Lake Community College.

Pitting former Cougar teammates, and now coaches, Nancy Warner (3rd year, Springville) against Melinda Johnsen (1st year, Timpanogos)… yet it would be a future Cougar that would cement her place in 4A lore while willing her team to victory.

The Springville Red Devils have been living dangerously since the quarter-finals of the 2010 4A state basketball tournament. Escaping on Thursday with a 65 to 54 overtime win over the defending 4A champs of Mountain View, the Red Devils followed the next game with a buzzer beater in the semi-finals against Snow Canyon to advance to the title game.

“Three back to back games is pretty tough. We were a little tired and feeling it so it just came down to heart really, I think,” said Springville star, Lexi Eaton.

After falling short to Mountain View in last year’s championship game and making the semi-finals the year before, Springville boasted a team that was big on experience and not lacking in confidence.

"This year our team has been battle-tested," said Springville coach Nancy Warner. "We were able to take it one game at a time and get through it. The girls showed what kind of team they are. The biggest thing was how they worked together."

The most important factor that the Red Devils had working for them however, was sharp-shooter, Lexi Eaton. "I'm sure glad she's on my team," Warner said. "That girl, just the effort she gives and the fight and the drive she has to finish, to knock down big shots, to knock down free throws… it's huge."

Eaton has that gift that special players have. She knows when to distribute, she knows when to shoot, and she knows when to drive (while looking for contact). This trait was in full effect on Saturday as Springville was taking on the Timpanogos Timberwolves for the championship.

Timpanogos jumped to a fast lead as it looked in the early going that the Red Devils last two games might have taken a physical toll on them. Led early by Morgan Bailey’s offensive and defensive effort, the Timberwolves find themselves up 20 to 10 with five minutes left in the second period… then the Red Devils came alive.

Looking for a way to slow down Timpanogos’ offense, Springville switched to man-to-man defense after starting sluggishly in zone. The switch resulted in a 12-0 run in the five minutes leading up to halftime, and left Timpanogos struggling for answers.

“We switched up defenses and went for a more aggressive approach, that’s what we do best”, said Eaton.

Stressing the importance of defense, coach Warner explained, "Offense can win games, but defense wins championships”.

As any good team will tell you, good defense creates offensive opportunities and those opportunities came in abundance when the Red Devils started their 12-0 run.

"We just thought that we didn't have that empty feeling that we had last year and the year before," Eaton said. "We realized that we weren't going to win the game unless we played well defensively."

Springville had just enough of a run in them to build a sizable lead that the Timberwolves could not overcome in the end. Timpanogos was able to trim the deficit to two points with 1:20 left in the fourth period off of an Alexa Anderson three-pointer, but the Timberwolves had no answer for Eaton.

Down the stretch, as is the case in most championship games, Springville began to let the clock tick down with deliberately long possessions. “We always want to attack, don’t slow it all down, and don’t lose that mentality”, said Eaton. The Red Devils passed the ball around each possession looking for that easy look at the basket, or waiting for the Timberwolves to foul. Timpanogos could only sit back and watch as the time was ticking away.

For the night, Eaton finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, and was the catalyst to a 42 to 26 4A championship game victory.

"We wanted to take it one game at a time and not look ahead, but we always had the thought in the back of our minds what the ultimate goal we were working toward was. It all panned out in the end. It feels great", said Eaton.

"We just have a lot of heart. We did not want to have a bitter taste in our mouth again this year so we just picked it up and never stopped."

"I feel like I can finally breathe," said Springville coach Nancy Warner, after the heart-break of the last two seasons.

The 2010 undefeated Red Devils can finally celebrate, they are finally 4A champions under Warner.