It’s hard enough to consistently win in a challenging region when the opponents are good just about every night. Add some bad luck on the injury front, and a season can have some rough patches. 

That about sums things up for the Alta girls basketball team. 

The Hawks placed in a tie for third in Region 6, winning seven of its 12 league games, the same as Olympus. The two teams finished in the league standings behind West and Brighton. Overall, Alta began the state tournament with an overall mark of 13-10. The Hawks lost in region play to West and Brighton (two times each) and once to Olympus, a 63-46 defeat on the road Feb. 7. 

Alta had some dominant wins in region action, beginning with a 56-33 blowout of East in the Region 6 opener Jan. 3. The Hawks also cruised past Highland Jan. 14 by the score of 52-22 and beat the Rams in the teams’ second meeting, 73-21 at home Feb. 4. Alta defeated Skyline 56-34 Jan. 30 on the road. But perhaps the most satisfying win was a narrow 57-55 victory at home over Olympus Jan. 17. In that game, Alta erased a 48-44 deficit after three quarters and had a 13-7 fourth-quarter advantage. Quincy Kegel hit a shot at the buzzer to secure the win. 

Perhaps more wins would have come to the Hawks had it not been for some injury woes. 

Head coach Julie Larsen had to adjust lineups and compensate for the loss of hurt players throughout the season. By the end of the regular season, she was crossing her fingers that some the players who missed time in previous games would be back on the court for state. 

“The Alta girls basketball team has been up and down this season, plagued with injury,” Larsen said. 

Because of so many injuries, Larsen tried many combinations on the court and got 16 players into action. The leading scorer during the regular season was Kegel, a junior guard who scored 13.9 points a game. Kegel also averaged a team-best four rebounds a contest and was second on the team with 2.7 assists an outing. Her season high in points was 28 at home against Olympus in the big Jan. 17 win. She also scored 27 points at Skyline Jan. 30. She had two games in which she pulled down a season-best 10 rebounds. In the victory over Olympus, she also filled up the stat sheet: 10 rebounds, five assists, six steals and two blocks. 

Another junior guard, Alia Baldassano, is the second-leading scorer. The 5-foot-4-inch player scored just over 12 points a game during the regular season and added 3.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.7 steals a contest. In the regular-season finale at Brighton, she scored a personal-best 21 points. In a 52-51 win at home over Murray on New Year’s Eve, Baldassano had a double-double with the rare combination of points and steals. She scored 20 points and record 10 steals in the effort. She also had three games this season with six steals and had season-highs of six rebounds on five different occasions. Baldassano paced the Hawks with 39 three-pointers during the regular season, six more than Kegel, who was second on the team in that category. 

When the regular season ended, Larsen and her players were eager for a chance to compete. Larsen said state is thrilling for not only the players and coaches but for the people who support the team. “State is an exciting time for players and fans,” she said. “We will be prepared to play hard and compete. This team has the potential to do great things. Matchups play a big role in playoff runs.”

The Hawks’ program has come a long way the past two season. In 2022-23, Alta lost all 21 of its games. The team was also 3-21 in 2021-22. Alta was guaranteed to finish this season with a winning record, making it the first time since 2015-16 and 2016-17 that the program enjoyed back-to-back winning campaigns. λ