For three quarters, East looked for a way to shake off the pesky Dons from Spanish Fork on Friday night.

It was clear from the opening tip, the Dons would be a stiffer test than the Leopards had in Wednesday's season opener, an 82 (everybody letters) -34 win over Kearns.The Lepoards trailed most of the first half and went into the locker room at halftime trailing 31-28.

By the time the fourth quarter started, the Leopards were clinging to a 45-41 lead and still hadn't figured out a way to put Spanish Fork away; that was until East's littlest man came up big.

Craig Sorensen, the Leopards 5-10 point guard took over early in the fourth quarter and helped East coast to a 72-55 win.

Sorensen opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-pointers giving East its biggest lead of the game at 51-41. It was a blow the Dons couldn't recover from.

"He's (Sorensen) got to be one of the best in the state," said East coach Kerry Rupp. "He stepped up and hit some big shots and handled their pressure very well."

Another Sorensen bucket with 4:40 left in the game gave East an 57-45 lead. After Spanish Fork's Brandon Hawkins countered with a basket, Sorensen scored again. The Leopards then iced the game when Matt Lowe added a three-point play, giving East a 62-47 advantage.

`We came out flat in the third quarter," said Dons coach Mike Gardner. "East got a lot of offensive rebounds. It seemed like we were getting one shot every time down the floor and they were getting three."

Spanish Fork took its biggest lead of the game with 4:19 left in the second quarter when Brady Banks grabbed a Dons miss and put it in giving Spanish Fork a 23-17 lead.

But after East called a time out the Leopards looked like a different team. "We talked about getting better ball movement and asked them to step up their game and take the challenge of doing a better job on the boards," Rupp said.

Lowe was up for the challenge. He led East with 10 rebounds. He also finished with 12 points. Sorensen's 21 points (15 in the second half) was tops on the team. Jamie Thorup added 16.

Brady Banks kept Spanish Fork close. Banks had 24 points and eight rebounds. He also had all three of the Dons 3-pointers.

Spanish Fork's Josh Davis finished with 11 points and six blocked shots.

Elsewhere around the state:

Fremont 76, Logan 54: Cameron Koford, who recently committed to Weber State, scored a game-high 20 points as the visiting Silver Wolves blasted the Grizzlies.

Judge 60, Jordan 58 : Tony Giobacchini finished with 22 points and Jason Soto added 20 as the Bulldogs outlasted the visiting Beetdiggers.

Lehi 64, Payson 61: Mike Christofferson scored 16 points as the Pioneers claimed victory on the other end of Utah County. Payson's Mark Francom led all scorers with 22.

Dixie 79, Virgin Valley 34: Robbie Rignell's game-high 19 points paced a successful effort over the visitors from Mesquite, Nev.

Grantsville 96, Wendover 75: The Cowboys overcame a 42-40 halftime deficit to post an easy win.

Holiday Inn Invitational

At Cedar City, five teams earned victories in Southern Utah University's Centrum Friday. Parowan defeated Milford 77-53; Escalante pounded Pahrump, Nev., 70-56; Panguitch surprised Wasatch 72-70; Beaver ripped Richfield 70-55 behind Justin Bradshaw's 36 points; and Pine View topped South Summit 69-51.

Blue & Gold Tournament

At Enterprise, the Wolves advanced to the finals of their own tournament with a 54-48 victory over Hurricane. Garrik Jones led Enterprise with 15 points. In the other semifinal, Manti edged Snow Canyon 55-54. Rich Anderson led the Templars with 14.

Duchesne Tournament

At Duchesne, the host Eagles will meet Tabiona in Saturday's championship game after both squads posted victories Friday. Matt Mitchell scored 21 points as Duchesne whipped Manila 93-54 after the Tigers edged Emery's JV 72-63. Shay Price paced Tabiona with 32 points and 10 assists.

Girls' basketball

Fremont 57, Viewmont 51: Rindi Haws scored 19 points and Amber Russell added 18 as the visiting Silver Wolves edged the Vikings. Holly Crockett and Julie Bellamy each had 17 for Viewmont.

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Kearns 44, Uintah 32: The Cougars made the most of a trip to Vernal - beating the Utes by a dozen.

Carbon 86, Duchesne 39: Ali Grussman topped all scorers with 15 points as the Dinosaurs proved to be tough hosts to the Eagles.

Blue & Gold Tournament

At Enterprise, Snow Canyon will meet Pine View in Saturday's championship game after both squads earned victories Friday. Jessica Jensen scored 14 points in the Warriors' 61-37 win over the Flyers, while Tawra Seegmiller had 13 as the Panthers clipped the host Wolves 61-58.

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