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Taylorsville • If Bountiful's 63-42 pounding of Springville in the Class 4A girls' championship game was Braves star Kennedy Redding's last competitive basketball game, she found a good way to go out.
The 6-foot-4 BYU volleyball commit scored 28 points, hauled down 21 rebounds and had four blocked shots. She was 8 of 12 from the field and missed just two free throws. Nearly everything the Braves did went through her.
To top it off, she was honored at halftime for her 4.0 grade-point average to give her academic all-state honors.
"This was possibly my last basketball game," she said. "It is just sad because I really like it, but I will play volleyball for BYU."
Bountiful coach Joel Burton, who has worked so hard for the Braves' first girls' basketball title since 2001, called his star player absolutely incredible.
"To me, she is just the best player in the state," he said. "I don't think there is anybody in the state that can do what she does. She deserves all the credit she gets. We struggled without her."
Indeed, the Braves dropped three of their last four regular-season games when Redding was injured. But they learned others had to step up in her absence.
That was the case again Saturday as 5-6 Amy Chidester picked the state title game to have her best performance of the tournament. She had 12 points and six assists and was perfect from the field.
"This is my last game playing basketball, so I wanted to give it my best," she said. "I wouldn't want to go out any other way."
The game was close for a quarter, with Springville leading 13-11 after one. But Bountiful used a 21-3 second quarter to build up a big lead.
Still, it was too early to count Springville out. The Red Devils had come back from a 15-0 deficit to beat Alta in Friday's semifinals. They fought back to within nine points late in the third quarter, but had little left for the fourth quarter.
"We had four really tough games this week and haven't been able to get much rest," said Springville coach Camie Oakey, whose team was led by Lydia Austin with 14 points and Savannah Sumsion with 12. "We got to within nine and then literally ran out of gas. That's not an excuse. We fought really hard."
Burton felt as though his team had an advantage because of how Springville had to battle back in the semifinals.
When the team bus was as quiet as it had been all year going home after winning Friday, the Bountiful coach felt as though his players were ready.
"It won't be tonight," said the coach about the ride home.
Both coaches had nothing but praise for their teams.
"I couldn't ask for a better group of kids to work with and end the season like this," said Burton. It is awesome, just awesome. It is going to be hard to replace this group of kids and hard to see them walk out the door."
Oakey was philosophical in defeat.
"Something you have to learn in life is to be humble in victory and to be a good loser," she said. "You have to learn to accept losses and live with it. They gave everything they had to this program."
Twitter: @tribtomwharton —
Bountiful 63, Springville 42
R Kennedy Redding leads Bountiful to its first girls' basketball state title since 2001 with 28 points, 21 rebounds and four blocked shots.
• Springville, led by Lydia Austin with 14 and Savannah Sumsion with 12, fights back to within nine in the third quarter but runs out of gas after tough game Friday against Alta.
• 5-foot-6 Amy Chidester chips in 12 points and adds six assists for the Braves.