Even big leads weren't for the faint of heart during Wednesday's opening round of the 1A boys prep basketball tournament at SUU.
Milford held a fairly comfortable 16-point lead in the final minute of the third period against Whitehorse - and the Tigers still needed to go to overtime to down the Raiders 77-66. And North Summit had margins of a dozen-plus points early against Tabiona - but the Braves had to erase their own seven-point deficit in the final two minutes to claim a 67-64 triumph over the Tigers.Whitehorse's Jimmie Clah sparked the Raiders' late surge against Milford by scoring 31 of his 41 points (including five treys) in the second half. But Clah fouled out late in regulation and Milford shut out Whitehorse 11-0 in overtime for the victory, as Barry Myers scored 6 of his team-high 28 points in OT.
North Summit seemed to be cruising at ease with double-digit leads in the second and third periods against Tabiona, but the Tigers turned the tables and led the Braves late. A four-point play by Lance Pace - a trey and free throw - put North Summit back on top 65-64 and Brandon Jones sealed the win with a pair of FTs.
North Summit's Jared Dixon finished with 21 points, while Tabiona's Jarrod Lefler led all scorers with 24 points and four 3-pointers.
1A tournament
Piute 84, Manila 56: The Region 12 champion T-birds broke open a so-so eight-point halftime lead by outscoring the Mustangs by 10 points in each of the final two periods. Travis Fullmer tallied 32 points for No. 2 Piute; Gabe Collett finished with 12 for Manila, which made its fist tournament appearance in nearly 20 years.
Valley 62, Rich 61: The Buffalos had a six-point lead at the end of the second and third periods and held off the Rebels comeback attempt. Jeff Cox and Cody McDonald each scored 14 points for Valley, while Jesse Webb had 24 for Rich.
Rowland Hall 85, Altamont 62: The Lions made their first tourney showing a success by outscoring the Longhorns 53-26 in the second half. Price Ellington scored 25 points and Steve Harmsen 23 for Rowland Hall; Brandon Hartman led Altamont with 23.
Green River 73, ICS 40: The top-ranked Pirates opened with a 20-5 first period and held the Lions to single-digit scoring in third period again. Leon Carter scored 29 points for Green River; Rob Matlak had 12 for ICS.
Panguitch 69, Wendover 52: The defending champion Bobcats had five players in double figures, including Christian Matthews with 16 points. Colin Trammell and Harry Williams each scored 13 for the Wildcats.
Dugway 68, Parowan 64: The Mustangs erased a two-point deficit to start the final period, as Steve DeWitt scored 10 of his game-high 28 points in the key fourth quarter. David Topham topped the Rams with 18 points.
2A tournament
At St. George, Region 9 logged a four-win sweep in Wednesday's 2A first-round games played at Dixie College. The top four seeded teams - North Sevier, Juab, South Summit and San Juan - all had first-round byes.
Grantsville 66, Beaver 53: The Cowboys jumped out quickly by outscoring the Beavers 26-6 in the first quarter alone as Mike Larsen scored 10 points and Shane Allred eight in the period. Grantsville's Allred ended with a game-high 20 points, while Clint Albrecht came off the bench to led Beaver with 10 points.
Morgan 52, Millard 36: After watching a double-digit lead dwindle to just one point early in the final period, the Trojans scored the final 15 points on the game while holding the Eagles pointless. Morgan's Zac Nelson led all scorers with 22 points, while Rick Robins had 14 to pace Millard.
North Sanpete 75, Kanab 59: Daniel Christensen's three 3-pointers and 22 points were tops for the Hawks, while tandem frontliners Jeff Ericksen and Matt Bailey contributed 16 apiece. The Cowboys had a 23-point performance - including five treys - from James Reidhead.
Park City 70, Hurricane 67: The Miners had leads of 15-plus points midway in the second half, but the Tigers drew to within one point at 68-67 in the closing seconds. But Hurricane couldn't connect on two FT attempts, while PC's Dirk Christofferson made a pair from the line to ice the victory. Christofferson and Zach Smith each scored 16 points for Park City, while Jason Jackman led Hurricane with 19 points.