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Logan • A 15-point margin of victory over a highly successful squad with a Division I-bound star surprised even Carbon girls' basketball coach Ted Bianco.

At the same time, he knows anything is possible when his team defends and rebounds at a high level.

Carbon defeated Desert Hills 59-44 in Thursday afternoon's Class 3A state quarterfinals in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Desert Hills star Ashley Beckstrand, a BYU signee, scored a game-high 21 points, but nobody else on the Thunder scored more than eight points.

The Dinos (19-3) received a team-high 17 points off the bench from junior guard Kelsey Sorenson, who went 6 for 12 from the floor (3 for 6 on 3-pointers) and also grabbed four rebounds and two steals. Lindsey Blanc added 14 points, including nine at the free-throw line on 9-for-10 shooting, — dished out four assists and came up with five steals.

"I did not think it was going to be a 15-point game because that's a great team, and they have a great player on their team," Bianco said. "I figured if we played well and rebounded and we contained [Beckstrand] the best we could, we could win the ballgame. The other thing that I felt like really helped us win was our rebounding."

Beckstrand went 6-for-18 shooting to get her 21 points. She committed eight turnovers and made seven steals for Desert Hills (18-4).

The Dinos led 17-15 with 5:46 remaining in the first half, but a drive and layup by Sorenson started a 10-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers by Jordan Bianco. That run helped the Dinos take a 35-23 lead into halftime.

"I just have been playing this game for a long time, and I just know that when I'm out there I need to make it count," Sorenson said. "Because if I'm not doing what I need to do, then I won't be out there. Somebody else will be out there."

Kelsey Sorenson scored 10 points off the bench for Carbon in the first half, and she knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. Carbon went 5 for 9 from behind the arc in the first half and shot 54 percent from the floor in the first half.

"Kelsey has the ability to do that all the time," coach Bianco said. "She came in for us as a sophomore last year in the semifinal game and had 16 off the bench. Kelsey is a great scorer for us. She does fantastic things when she's on a roll like that. She's a scorer and you just got out of her way as a coach and close your eyes and hope it works."

Carbon's 12-point halftime lead didn't shrink to fewer than eight points in the second half. The Dinos' defense forced 11 second-half turnovers while holding Desert Hills to 27 percent shooting.

lworthy@sltrib.com

Twitter: @LWorthySports

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Storylines

• Carbon advances to the state semifinals for the third consecutive season.

• Carbon holds Desert Hills to 34 percent shooting.

• Cyene Bigelow pulls down a seven rebounds for the Dinos, who beat Desert Hills 32-26 on the glass.

Class 3A girls' tournament

at Utah State University

Quarterfinal scores

Carbon 59, Desert Hills 44

Juan Diego 44, Union 34

Richfield 42, Cedar City 40 in OT

Morgan 56, Grantsville 49

Friday

Semifinals

4:10 p.m. • Carbon vs. Juan Diego

5:50 p.m. • Richfield vs. Morgan

Saturday

11 a.m. • Championship game

Class 2A girls' tournament

at Sevier Valley Center

Quarterfinal scores

North Sevier 48, North Summit 42

Kanab 63, San Juan 32

Beaver 44, Layton Christian 25

Emery 33, Enterprise 25

Friday

Semifinals

4:10 p.m. • North Sevier vs. Kanab

5:50 p.m. • Beaver vs. Emery

Saturday

11 a.m. • Championship game