No. 2 Sugar-Salem remains unbeaten with key conference win against No. 3 South Fremont

SUGAR-CITY – It may only be comprised of three teams, but the Mountain Rivers Conference is the toughest in the state for 3A girls teams.

Sugar-Salem, South Fremont and Teton are all ranked in the top 5 in the state media poll and only one of them will automatically qualify for the state tournament, meaning every head-to-head matchup is like an episode of Squid Game.

Big reward for the winner, not so much for the loser.

The Diggers gave themselves a little breathing room on Wednesday night, downing South Fremont 55-36 in an impressive, well-balanced effort on both sides of the ball.

Sugar-Salem, which remained unbeaten at 18-0, 2-0, was sharp from the first quarter with Andee Petterson scoring eight of the team’s first 10 points.

The early lead held midway through the second before South Fremont started to chip away, but it wasn’t enough. The Diggers expanded a 25-17 halftime lead into double digits in the third quarter and didn’t let up in the fourth.

Of course the Squid Game reference may be over the top because no one is actually eliminated from the postseason.

Far from it.

The regular season ends next Friday, with the Diggers, Cougars and Timberwolves each playing one more round against each other. That will determine district seeding, with the eventual district tournament winner earning a berth to state. The second-place team will face a state play-in game.

As for Wednesday’s game, Sugar-Salem proved it’s still the team to beat.

Petterson, Nika Nead and Ashlyn Harris each finished in double figures, which has been the norm for the Diggers, who return an experienced lineup from last year’s squad.

“That’s been my favorite thing about this team,” Sugar-Salem coach Crystal Dayley said of the team’s productivity. “We’ve had several players step up so scouting us is tough.”

Dayley noted the team’s schedule has been tough this year and that experience shows in big games.

She added the goal is always to get to the state tournament – the Diggers lost to South Fremont and Teton last year in districts – so the motivation for another run started early.

“Did I think we would go undefeated?,” Dayley asked. “No, but these kids have stepped up huge and won some big games. But, I didn’t think we could pull off a perfect season, but I did expect them to go really far this year. I knew we had a shot at a state championship with the talent we had coming back.”

South Fremont (16-2, 1-1) already has a win over Teton, which was the state runner-up a year ago. Coach Brooke Bailey said there’s always more to learn from a loss, so the team is focused on the upcoming schedule.

The Timberwolves were down double figures in a matchup with Sugar-Salem last season and rallied for the win. That didn’t happen Wednesday.

“We’re just going to take this game and learn what we have to and move forward,” Bailey said.

Senior Brianne Bailey finished with 13 points for South Fremont.