Girls basketball playoffs: No. 1 Westlake hammers No. 8 Davis in quarterfinal rematch
Cold start dooms Darts 55-33 in 6A quarterfinals
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- Davis High’s Kate Willard drives to the basket against Westlake in the 6A girls basketball quarterfinals Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
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- Davis High’s Chloe Peery (2) lines up a shot attempt against Westlake in the 6A girls basketball quarterfinals Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
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- Davis High’s Kiara Zwonitzer, left, prepares to box out during a Westlake free-throw attempt in the 6A girls basketball quarterfinals Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
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- Davis High’s Hannah Garlock, center, calls out a play in the 6A girls basketball quarterfinals against Westlake on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
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- Davis High player Kate Willard picks herself up off the floor against Westlake during the 6A girls basketball quarterfinals Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
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- Davis High girls basketball head coach Nicole Waddoups gestures to her players during the 6A quarterfinals Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
SALT LAKE CITY — Nicole Waddoups and Davis High girls basketball walked away from the state playoffs dissatisfied yet again this week.
The second-year Davis coach described Wednesday’s 22-point loss to No. 1 Westlake in the 6A quarterfinals about as bluntly as any coach at the University of Utah this week possibly could.
“It wasn’t very fun — it’s not fun at all,” Waddoups said. “We had four days to prepare and this is not what we were hoping for. It’s what happened, but it wasn’t what we were hoping for. Westlake’s a great team, and they totally outplayed us from start to finish.”
The Thunder, indeed, avenged last year’s quarterfinal loss by hammering No. 8 Davis 55-33 on Wednesday night for Westlake’s first semifinal ticket in four years. The Darts finished the season 16-9 overall after closing the regular season a game shy of the Region 1 title.
All-Valley guards Mia Foster and Avery Thompson led Westlake (21-4) with 30 combined points and seven 3-pointers.
Davis, led by junior swingman Kate Willard (17 points, six rebounds) exited the first half just 2 of 20 from the floor, and 0 of 5 beyond the curve, after spending the entirety of the second quarter desperately searching for a basket that wasn’t there.
“This has been a continuous problem for us this year, attacking the basket instead of playing along the 3-point line,” Waddoups said. “That’s kind of how we played the first half, and the second half, we actually attacked and we had some good things happen.”
Foster (16 points), and fellow All-Valley pick Ella Seymore (11 points), put in two 3s before the break for a 16-point lead at halftime. After eight minutes without a field goal, Davis was led by senior Chloe Peery (five points for the game) with just four points from the floor.
Early 3s from Foster and Seymore signaled the beatdown to come in the second half; Foster chucked up her third triple roughly 30 seconds into the third quarter and all bets were off. An and-one try by Seymore saw Westlake lead by as much as 28 and rip off 19 more in the third quarter alone.
Freshman Emma Knight gave Davis seven points, including a plus-one, to end the third quarter, but Westlake’s 24-point slope felt wider than the arena itself with eight minutes left. Cambell Christensen added two points in the end for Davis.
Isley Sauvao added eight points and Keira Hester tallied another five for Westlake.
Waddoups, with back-to-back quarterfinal visits on her resume at Davis, said this year’s team felt far deeper entering Wednesday’s contest with the tournament’s No. 1 seed.
“I personally think we’re a better team than we were last year,” Waddoups said. “We played more together, I think our defense has been better. I don’t think that showed quite as well tonight, but I honestly feel like this was a better team than I had last year. They love each other and play together.”
Save for a 42-35 Syracuse loss in the regular-season finale, Davis could’ve walked into this year’s tournament with a share of the Region 1 title after finishing third a year ago. Waddoups and the Darts reached the semifinals together a year ago; defending state champion Lone Peak hung 18 on the Darts en route to the program’s latest title.
No. 2 Syracuse remains the only Northern Utah representative in the 6A bracket. The Titans (19-5) take on No. 6 Bingham at 12:30 p.m. Thursday in Salt Lake City.
Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.
