‘Beauty in disguise’: Hamblin, Syracuse eager to grow from loss to Bountiful
Redhawks curb Syracuse rally on New Year's Eve; Titans' win streak comes to an end
-
- Syracuse High’s Maylee Anderson, right, swerves her pass around Bountiful’s Milika Satuala during a nonregion girls basketball contest on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 in Syracuse.
-
- Syracuse High’s Rachel McBride, right, spins around Bountiful’s Brynna Castleton during a nonregion girls basketball contest on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 in Syracuse.
-
- Syracuse High’s Karsyn Visser pops a 3-point jumper during a nonregion girls basketball contest against Bountiful on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 in Syracuse.
-
- Syracuse High’s Olivia Sorenson, right, pops a short-range jumper in the face of Bountiful’s Charlotte Johnson during a nonregion girls basketball contest on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in Syracuse.
-
- Syracuse High’s Rachel McBride eyes a 3-point jumper during a nonregion girls basketball contest against Bountiful on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 in Syracuse.
-
- Syracuse High’s Maylee Anderson, middle, flips a steal down the floor during a nonregion girls basketball contest against Bountiful on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 in Syracuse.
-
- Syracuse High coach Braden Hamblin and the Titans bench look on during a nonregion girls basketball contest against Bountiful on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 in Syracuse.
SYRACUSE — It only takes a bucket or two to get the juices flowing, and Syracuse girls basketball coach Braden Hamblin is a firm believer in that brand of intangible mojo.
Syracuse bought off a few of those baskets in a nonregion bout with 5A Bountiful on New Year’s Eve but — as it’d plagued the Titans from the jump — finishing at the rim ultimately became a third loss for the Titans, falling short of the Redhawks 40-35 at home on Wednesday.
Down 15 at the half, the Titans (9-3) nearly doubled their first-half production to squeeze Bountiful (10-1) in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. Seniors Maylee Anderson (15 points) and Karsyn Visser (six points) drew the Titans within three before the 2-minute warning on four different stops.
But defenses can only contain Redhawks senior Milika Satuala (15 points) for so long, and the 5-foot-10 shooting guard laid in the right layup — only Bountiful’s third field goal of the fourth quarter — to go back up five, which followed two of Syracuse’s designed plays involving senior wing Karsyn Visser (six points) and senior forward Olivia Sorenson (two points).
“I was proud of our girls for not quitting,” Hamblin said. “Kind of toward the end, we’re down three and we called a backdoor play for (Visser), it worked and she just missed the layup. (Sorenson) was able to get the rebound and we weren’t able to finish there. I think that’s where we struggled a lot tonight is just finishing some of those easy ones around the rim.”
Sorenson, Syracuse’s typical inside target, earned both her points at the free-throw line.
Near-misses and roll-outs were a consistent theme for the Titans throughout the night, and specifically hurt Syracuse out of the gate with both ends running cold.
“(Sorenson)’s one of our strongest bigs and usually a pretty good finisher around the rim,” Hamblin said. “It just didn’t work for her tonight, and so that was a thought process because we still had plenty of time when we drew up both of those plays and we just couldn’t get a bucket to fall.”
Struggle from the field, Syracuse did.
The home side recorded a season-low 12 points in the first half and finished just 25% from the field (including 1 of 18 behind the arc) as a unit.
Senior forward Rachel McBride (six points) and senior guard Zaydie Peterson (two points) went quiet in the second half, with Syracuse’s only non-Anderson/Visser production coming on four bench points via senior Brighton Goddard and freshman Mindy McNeill.
The silver lining, in Hamblin’s view, is Syracuse’s persistence following an ugly end to the first half.
“In sports, you always talk about moral victories and, to be honest, I hate to use that type of scenario, but sometimes it is,” Hamblin said. “I think the message was, ‘we’re right there.’ We make a few more buckets, it’s a different ballgame. It stinks we couldn’t get it done there down the stretch, but I think there’s a lot of positives to take from it.”
Winning the larger share of first-half chances, the Redhawks registered six different scorers in the first half. Charlotte Johnson (six points), Brynna Castleton (five points), Adelaide Stevenson (four points) and Peyton Orchard (two points) all contributed to their halftime bedrock.
Bountiful recorded just 13 points in the second half, but it’d be a timely 3-pointer by senior guard Maleah Nelson (eight points), coming at the third-quarter buzzer, and a fourth-quarter layup that aided Satuala in her quest to keep Bountiful on top.
Syracuse’s third nonregion loss came against one of the toughest defenses his team has faced yet, Hamblin said.
“That’s a good basketball team,” Hamblin said of Bountiful. “They pride themselves on defense. They’re a high-pressure, high-intensity, man-to-man defense, and they try to get us out of what we do, and, especially in the first half, we let that be the case.”
Syracuse has not strung two losses together yet this season and hung five consecutive wins on opponents entering the week.
The Titans have two more nonregion dates on the calendar, beginning with Payson at home on Saturday, and then traveling to Corner Canyon on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
“You’ve gotta go on to the next one,” Hamblin said. “It’s kind of a beauty in disguise. You get a chance to bounce back, forget that and try to bounce back the next day. This is a good group of girls; I’m not sure it’s any one individual, but it’s a pretty tight-knit group altogether.”
Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.
