JORDAN VALLEY — Mayela De La Fuente had 15 points, and the No. 14 Echo Cougars knocked off the No. 3 Jordan Valley Mustangs on the road Saturday, Feb. 24, in the second round of the 1A state basketball playoffs.

Echo won 51-41.

“We are pulling everything together at just the right time,” Echo coach Brandi Russell said. “Fine-tuning communication and systems. Most of the state considers this game a huge upset, but we actually beat Jordan Valley last December. Our preseason was stacked with many top 10 teams, resulting in a ranking that may not be exactly accurate, but it’s always fun to be the underdog.”

Echo (20-8) moves on to play Powder Valley in the state quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 29 at Baker High School. Jordan Valley ended its season with a 20-4 record.

The Cougars led 11-4 after the first quarter, and 21-13 at the half before the Mustangs made things interesting.

Meg Eiguren scored nine of her 16 points in the third quarter to pull Jordan Valley within seven points.

The Cougars led 35-28 heading into the fourth quarter, where they used a balanced attack to stay one step ahead of the Mustangs.

De La Fuente, Cameron Estes and Ally Brown all had four points in the quarter. De La Fuente had a 3-pointer that gave Echo its biggest lead at 46-33, but Jordan Valley came back with a 3-pointer from Kyndra Williams to trim the deficit back to 10 points.

“The girls did an excellent job tonight staying focused and working together,” Russell said. “Other teams always try to single out one of our guards in a box-and-one, or specific defense. However, our other girls have just been stepping up offensively and the result is just us moving the other team’s best defender in a corner.”

Brown and Nevaeh Thew each had 10 points for the Cougars, while Estes had seven.

Kenzie Tuttle added 10 points for Jordan Valley, while Claire Collins had eight points, including two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.