For most of three quarters Tuesday night, Cottonwood and Clearfield both looked like basketball teams trying to find themselves. Cold shooting, turnovers and missed opportunities kept the game relatively tight as it entered the fourth quarter.
But a 13-2 run by the host Colts finally allowed Cottonwood to shake the pesky Falcons en route to a 44-32 victory. It could have been worse for the Falcons.
Clearfield started the game as cold as the weather outside. Cottonwood built a 9-1 lead in the first four minutes, as the Falcons missed eight of their first nine shots. The Colts turned to big man Martin Mitchell and guard Andre Carter, the latter making a rare four-point play after being fouled on a trey and converting the free throw. Consecutive baskets by Kody Lewis as the period ended helped Clearfield pull to within four at 11-7.
The Falcons tied the game for the final time at 11-all when
Lewis hit two freebies and Devin Reid nailed a short jumper as the second quarter began. But once again, the visitors turned cold from outside. Cottonwood's Jason Jenkins scored twice from the stripe, Carter put in back-to-back jumpers to make it 17-11, and Reid hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to pull the Falcons back within three at 17-14 at halftime. The first half stats-Clearfield shooting just 25 percent from outside (Cottonwood was 6-for-14 from the field at the break).
Though the drought continued in the second half, to Clearfield's credit, the Falcons hung tough. Cottonwood tried twice to pull away, taking a 21-16 lead after a Todd Allen free throw, then expanding it to 25-18 after Allen stole a pass and drove for a layin. Travis Wilson scored from the line for Clearfield, countered by a free throw from the Colt's Cody Holfeltz. Wilson added another basket for the Falcons as the quarter ended, cutting the lead to 26-21.
He also banked in a shot to start off the final quarter. It was at that point that the Colts came alive. Aaron Devers started the run with a three-pointer, followed by a trey from Carter to make it 32-23. Holfeltz hit a short jumper, but Reid countered with a 10-footer for Clearfield. Allen then nailed a trey and followed with another field goal to push the Cottonwood lead to 39-25 with exactly four minutes remaining. Clearfield could never recover.
The Falcons came back to within nine at 39-30 with just over two minutes remaining, but free throws from Holfeltz and Carter stopped the momentum, and Cottonwood had the victory. Clearfield finished with 27 percent shooting from the field, while the Colts shot 52 percent. Carter led all scorers with 18 points, Allen adding 10. Lewis led the Falcons with eight.
In other boys' games:
NONREGION
WEBER 60, MOUNTAIN CREST 53: Weber pulled away in the fourth quarter to down Mountain Crest by seven.
OLYMPUS 62, LAYTON 56: In a game that featured multiple lead changes, Olympus pulled away at the end to record the nonregion win. Layton's Nate Grondel led all scorers with 18 points. Shaun Green scored 16 for Olympus.
NORTHRIDGE 55, COPPER HILLS 51:Tage Clifford popped in 23 points including three three-pointers as the Knights beat the Grizzlies.
DAVIS 65, BOUNTIFUL 58 (OT):Payden Van Brocklin recorded 14 points and five assists to lead the Darts past the Braves in overtime. Bountiful's Taylor Christensen scored a game-high 22 points.
HILLCREST 67, TAYLORSVILLE 44: The Huskies got a great effort from Vince Hights as he scored 29 points in the victory over the Warriors.
RIVERTON 57, MURRAY 53:John Darger led the Silverwolves in their victory, scoring 18 points. The Spartans came up just short in their fourth quarter rally.
CYPRUS 68, GRANGER 42:Rob Garside had 17 points and Tyler Jones added 16 for 4A Cyprus in its win over 5A Granger. The Pirates outscored the Lancers 36-16 in the first-half.
TOOELE 57, LOGAN 54:Easton Nigh scored 16 points as the Buffaloes jumped out to a 10-point halftime lead and then held off a furious rally by the Grizzlies.
SPANISH FORK 68, OREM 56: The Dons jumped to a 10-point first-quarter lead and hung on for the win behind 40 points from their backcourt.
WASATCH 63, PAYSON 56: Wasatch shot 34 free throws against Payson and made 19. Josh Cottle had 24 points for Wasatch
JUDGE MEMORIAL 55, EAST 51: Sophomore center Daniel Deane scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Bulldogs past neighbor East. Judge shot 11 of 12 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
OGDEN 46, HIGHLAND 43:Lance Wight and Andrew Skanchy scored in double figures and Andrew Cox made some big shots late in the fourth quarter to lead the Tigers past the Rams.
EMERY 71, UNION 66 (OT): It took an overtime session, but Emery was able to outlast Union to claim a nonregion victory. Bowie Jeffs led the Spartans with 35 points.
PAGE, ARIZ. 51, HURRICANE 27: Visiting Page jumped to a big second-quarter lead and cruised to victory past the Tigers.
JUAB 50, MILLARD 35:Trevor Jones and Kellen Nielsen had 12 points each as Juab broke away in the second half to down Millard.
CEDAR 33, VIRGIN VALLEY, NEV. 30: Brad Matheson's seven points paced the Redmen past Virgin Valley.