The Mountain Ridge girls basketball team might night have had a glossy record last season, but don’t sleep on the Sentinels. This season, the team returns just about everyone from the 2023–24 squad, and the girls are hungry to compete. 

The Sentinels were 4-6 in Region 2 a season ago, fifth out of six teams. Overall, Mountain Ridge was 15-10. The team played two region foes in the Class 6A state tournament, defeating Bingham and falling to eventual runner-up Copper Hills in the quarterfinals. 

Head coach Kenzie Newton has confidence that her team will be competitive. The Sentinels have worked hard in the offseason and have improved since the 2023–24 campaign, Newton said. 

“This team has a lot of potential, and our coaching staff is excited to help them maximize what they are capable of,” she said. “We have had a lot of girls working hard, and it will be fun seeing the chemistry continue to grow from last season.”

Newton knows that the Sentinels need to keep getting better on both ends of the court. She has emphasized tenacious defense and getting down the court faster on offense. 

“Defensively, we want to continue to disrupt our opponents offensive flow,” she said. “Offensively, we want to continue to push the ball and play at a fast tempo finding easy opportunities.”

Last season, the youthful Sentinels didn’t have a single senior on the squad. Those younger players are now more seasoned veterans, giving Mountain Ridge a strong group of mentally tough girls who understand what it takes to compete at a high level. 

With so many experienced players back in the fold, Newton expects a lot out of her team. Still, she isn’t setting any goals of winning a certain number of games. Rather, she is instilling the girls with good work ethic and effort. Newton also helps the girls keep things in perspective. She wants them to enjoy playing and get along well with one another. 

“We have high expectations with where we ended last season,” she said. “Our schedule is tough, and we want to play the best. This season will be a success if all of our girls can look back feeling they gave it everything they had and made some great friendships and memories along the way.”

Newton likes the versatility and depth on the team. Early on, she has noticed that the girls put the team first and are more interested in collective success rather than individual achievements. 

Mountain Ridge has a solid rotation of seven players, all of whom contribute to the team’s success. This group comprises four juniors, two sophomores and a senior. The lone senior, guard Brooklyn Simon, saw limited action last season but will have a bigger role in 2024–25. Sophomores Kaylee Montgomery and Cailin Kehl, both guards, averaged 7.5 and 6.8 points per game a year ago, respectively. Junior Kya Newton was the leading scorer on the team a season ago with a 13.2 per-game average. Junior guard Jada Jangard and junior forward Ava Blair round out the top Sentinel players. 

Going into the season, Newton knew competing with the top teams in the region wouldn’t be easy. She hopes the girls will remain confident and develop the team unity Mountain Ridge needs to be successful. 

“The biggest challenges are trusting that the ball will find who it needs to and making the extra pass,” Newton said. “We need to execute against good teams and continue to build camaraderie and have confidence in one another.”

Region 2 should once again provide some tough test for Mountain Ridge. Last season, Copper Hills ran away with the league crown, winning the region by three games. Behind Copper Hills, there was a logjam of evenly matched teams. Second place through fifth place was separated by just two games. 

Mountain Ridge got off to a good start this season. 

The Sentinels opened with a pair of decisive victories, both at home. The season opener was a 58-31 victory over Alta on Nov. 21, followed by a 66-27 thrashing of East the following day. In game one, Mountain Ridge took a close 10-10 game after one quarter and blew things open with a 16-4 second quarter. Mountain Ridge held Alta to shots 11 field goals, making 22 of its own. Newton paced the Sentinels with 11 points, while Blair had 10. Newton also had a stat-sheet-filling day with four rebounds, four assists and four steals. 

In the 39-point blowout of East, Montgomery led the way with 22 points, including five three-pointers. Maynard contributed 14 points. Impressively, Mountain Ridge held East scoreless in the first quarter. 

The Sentinels have some tough games ahead. 

December features a home game with Davis on Dec. 3, followed by a trip to Lehi. The Sentinels have eight games in December before Christmas and return Jan. 3 to play at defending 6A champion Lone Peak. After playing at Skyridge on Jan. 7, Mountain Ridge begins Region 2 action at Herriman on Jan. 9. The Sentinels face all five league foes twice. The final regular-season game is Feb. 13 at Copper Hills. The Class 6A state tournament follows. 

Newton is excited to see how her team performs the rest of the way, especially once region games heat up. She’s impressed with everyone’s effort and will to succeed. 

“This group works extremely hard and are very competitive,” she said. “They all have high expectations and are willing to do whatever it takes to see the team succeed.”