Girls basketball: Led by former star Williams, Roy glistens a bit brighter in 0-4 start
Morgan outruns Royals to snap losing skid, improve to 2-4
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- Roy coach Josie Williams calls out to Jazzi Prieto, right, during a nonregion girls basketball contest on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at Morgan High School in Morgan.
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- Roy’s Eva Reed drives to the rim during a nonregion girls basketball contest on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at Morgan High School in Morgan.
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- Roy’s Summer Barton, black, pressures Morgan’s Makayala Williams, white, during a nonregion girls basketball contest on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at Morgan High School in Morgan.
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- Roy’s Cheyenne Thorsted, left, lines up after while Morgan’s Zoe Rockenfield, background, calls out to her team during a nonregion girls basketball contest on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at Morgan High School in Morgan.
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- Morgan’s Zoe Rockenfield brings the ball down the floor against Roy during a nonregion girls basketball contest on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at Morgan High School in Morgan.
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- Roy’s Lily Solomona, left, puts up a shot against Morgan’s Kendall Williams, right, during a nonregion girls basketball contest on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at Morgan High School in Morgan.
MORGAN — It’s the internal victories that move the needle for first-year Roy High girls basketball coach Josie Williams, back home where she first cut her teeth before her college career.
Just seven players showed up to the team’s first open gym in August, but the Royals have grown to accommodate 19 (including eight seniors) on their varsity roster.
Seven of them added their names to the scoring column in a road game Tuesday at 3A Morgan, but the hosts outperformed Roy 54-41 to send their visitors home with a fourth consecutive loss to begin the season.
Freshman Lily Solomona (14 points) led Roy (0-4) inside the paint, and senior Cheyenne Thorsted hopped off the bench for 12 points from the wing.
Morgan sophomore Zoe Rockenfield led the Trojans (2-4) with a game-high 20 points, and junior Makayla Williams pitched in 16.
Timely 3-point shooting by Thorsted and senior Jazzi Prieto (seven points), complemented by freshman Quincy Hoover’s first bucket of the night, made it a two-possession contest in the second quarter after Roy trailed by nine through the end of the first quarter.
But the Royals never could turn the tide, and found themselves down 11 at halftime once the Trojans settled back in behind the arc. Makayala Williams added another eight points in the second half, and Rockenfield scrounged up seven more to keep Morgan one step ahead through the final 16 minutes.
While impressed with a few early flashes, Josie Williams said Roy must buy back some of those possessions if they expect to leave the floor with a different result.
“We had 26 turnovers, and it’s hard to win a game when you have that many turnovers,” Josie Williams said. “Morgan’s a great team, but I think we made a lot of mistakes just by ourselves, and I think that killed us — empty possessions.”
Roy would ultimately shoot 42% from two-point range, and Josie Williams came away ecstatic about out-rebounding a Trojans team featuring two threats inside with Kendall Williams (four points) and Joyce Odum (three points). The Royals also capped Morgan senior Kamry Wardell to just eight first-half points on the night.
Morgan coach Sterling Mack said Roy tested his girls on the boards all night long, and that his lot is concerned with winning that particular facet of the game in the days ahead.
“We’ve got to be tougher,” Mack said. “We’ve got to be able to stand our ground and not run away from any pressure. We’ve gotta be tougher in the paint, we got to rebound better — we gave up too many offensive rebounds.”
The Trojans opened the season with a 26-point loss at Mountain Crest before bouncing back at Juab 70-52. Tuesday marked the end of a three-game losing skid at home against Wasatch (70-52), at Sky View (47-39), and at Syracuse (55-47) for their second regular-season win.
“If anyone watches the film, the girls competed,” Mack said. “We took some (losses), but I’m happy with the way the girls have played. I think we’re getting more confident because we’re getting minutes and we have some skill with that sophomore group.”
Morgan stepped forward with a confidence-booster on Tuesday, but Roy hardly tapped out of its second road test without a fight. Finding multiple looks late, Solomona cashed in eight of her team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter to help Roy outscore their opponent 14-8 through the final eight minutes.
A willingness to scrap and fight is as much as Josie Williams can ask for as her team continues searching for its first win of the season. The Royals return home Friday to host nonregion 5A neighbor Woods Cross.
“A big thing for us right now is executing what we’re trying to do, and this was the first game that we did that,” Williams said. “We got great looks, our girls played with confidence, and so tonight it made me really excited about what’s ahead.”
Williams returned to Roy to right the ship following her playing career, which spanned from Utah Valley to Louisville, followed by a coaching career at the latter and most recently Utah State.
“It’s been great to just be around the school,” Williams said. “I was just so excited that we had so many show up at tryouts, and it’s just been a compliment to our seniors and the girls who were willing to come out. We’ve got a lot of inexperience, but they’re playing so hard and they’re learning.”
Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.
