The Sigourney Savages were denied a trip to the girls’ basketball state tournament after they lost 65-44 to Springville last night in the Class 1A Region 7 finals. Sigourney hung tough early, only trailing 16-12 at the end of the first quarter.

But the fourteenth-ranked Savages were on the wrong end of a 14-5 run by Springville, and even after Sigourney got back within nine points, Lexi Dietiker hit a three-point shot to put the Orioles up 35-23 at halftime.

The Savages would never get closer than a nine-point deficit in the second half, and junior Rowan Jacobi’s game-high 30 points had number-seven Springville flying high the rest of the way. After the game, Sigourney head coach Kaylee Weber told KCII Sports she was grateful to her players for making her first season a special one.

“It’s hard to adapt to a new coach,” Weber said, “and I can’t thank them enough for adapting to me. They listened to everything I had to give them [and] they adapted mid-game.”

“I really love this team [and] I’m really sad that it’s over. This is a special group of girls, and I’m just so thankful that they’re able to get, not only [themselves] this far, but me this far. It’s so cool.”

The Savages were led by 16 points scored by freshman Brynn Clarahan, while senior McKinley Chittick added 10 points as they conclude the season with a record of 19-6. Sigourney will now say farewell to four seniors in Chittick, Josephine Moore, Ava Fisch and Dani Aller.