In basketball, wins and losses are often determined by a team’s ability to contain its opponent’s top players.
Legacy’s girls basketball team came out on top in that battle Friday, taking control early and hanging on for a 52-46 victory over Losee in a Class 4A state semifinal at Valley.
Longhorns senior Alabama Nieves dominated from start to finish with 31 points and five rebounds.
Legacy (26-7), the Southern Region champion, will play either Northern champ Reno or South No. 2 seed Foothill for the championship at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Cox Pavilion.
The Lions (21-7), the South’s No. 3 seed, had no answer for Nieves, who scored all nine of the Longhorns’ first-quarter points.
“We came in trying to focus on our defense,” she said. “We just wanted to be aggressive.”
That early defensive effort was successful, as it forced Losee to shoot from the perimeter and kept Lions standout Jayla Lewis to six first-half points. She finished with 20 points and six rebounds.
Nieves said her team’s defense gave her scoring opportunities.
“I know as the top scorer on the team that it’s my responsibility to shoot,” she said. “And I was feeling it.”
The Longhorns’ 14-12 lead midway through the second quarter ballooned to 21-12 at halftime. They opened the second half with a 10-3 scoring spurt to go ahead 31-15 on Nieves’ 3-pointer from the left corner.
Legacy coach Tiffany Richardson said she felt good about things when her team entered halftime with a reasonable advantage.
“I know we tend to play well in the third quarter,” she said. “I told my players, ‘Bro, this is our half.’ It’s just something we always seem to do.”
But Richardson had to sit players when the Longhorns encountered third-quarter foul trouble. Losee capitalized, battling back to cut the deficit to 48-41 on a 3-pointer by ZaRyah Snell with 2:26 left in the fourth.
But each Lions run ended with a key shot by Nieves.
“I know in a tense situation that I can slow it down and play at my own pace,” she said. “And I trust myself to make those shots.”
A timely block by Legacy senior Trista Mabry and ensuing acrobatic layup by junior Ajalee Williams with 1:02 remaining finally put the game out of reach.
“I wasn’t going to be happy until there were zero seconds left on the clock,” Richardson said. “I always feel like we’re only winning by two.”
Williams had eight points and nine rebounds for Legacy, which lost to Bishop Manogue in the state semifinals last year.
Snell finished with 10 points for Losee.