With talented opponents Copper Hills, Bingham, Herriman, Corner Canyon and Riverton, Mountain Ridge has gone up against some stiff competition this season. 

The Sentinels have held their own, posting a 2-3 record halfway through the region schedule. Through January, the Sentinels were 12-6 overall and held the No. 8 spot in the Class 6A RPI rankings. These rankings will determine seeding for the state tournament, which starts Feb. 20. 

Mountain Ridge has had some close calls and were not far from being 4-1 at the midpoint of the region portion of the season. After losing to Copper Hills on the road, 52-41, on Jan. 16, Mountain Ridge had a pair of heartbreakingly close defeats. First, the Sentinels lost at home to Bingham, 68-67, on Jan. 18, flowed by a 55-53 loss to Riverton at home on Jan. 25. In between these two narrow defeats was a 59-51 win at Corner Canyon on Jan. 23. Mountain Ridge opened Region 2 play Jan. 11 with a 54-41 win over rival Herriman. 

This season, Mountain Ridge has gotten several players onto the court for game experience. Twelve players have scored, led by sophomore sensation Kya Newton, who scores 14.7 points per game. She’s also the leader in assists with 2.6 points per game. Defensively, Newton is one of the top players in 6A, evidenced by her 3.1 steals per game. New began the year with six games of at least 12 points. Her season-high effort in scoring was 23 points through the first 18 contests. 

Jessica Maynard is one of the biggest all-around threats in Region 2, if not all of 6A. The sophomore scores 13.8 points per game and pulls down 8.6 rebounds an outing. Through 18 games, she had registered five double-doubles. Her season-high in points was 25 against Bingham, while her best rebounding game was 15 at Highland on Nov. 21. She also had 13 blocked shots through January, with a high of four at Highland. She also had two games in which she dished out four assists. 

Kaylee Montgomery has been a key member of the team. Another young player—just a freshman—she scores nearly eight points a game and has an average of 2.4 steals a contest. Arguably her best game came Dec. 15 at Olympus when she totaled 16 points (including four three-pointers), five rebounds, three assists and four steals. 

Cailin Kehl, at 6.3 points per game, and Jada Jangard, at 4.9 points per game, are also key players for the Sentinels. Jangard also leads the team in assists with 3.1 a game. 

With a slate of games against each region foe, Mountain Ridge has a chance to climb the standings and improve its RPI. The final league game is at Riverton on Feb. 15. 

A year ago, Mountain Ridge reached the quarterfinals of the 6A state tournament, falling to Fremont in double overtime, 73-65.  λ