CEDAR CITY — As Josh Cottle stood with teammates near the Wasatch student section celebrating the Wasps' second straight 3A state championship, the students started chanting "MVP, MVP."
He tried keeping a straight face but couldn't. How could one not smile after scoring 17 points to lead his team to a 42-34 victory over Lehi Saturday night.
"He's the guys who leads this team," said Wasatch forward Logan Magnusson.
For a school that went 58 years without winning a championship, back-to-back titles is something special.
"It's a whole different feeling this year," said Cottle. "This year is my year and the other seniors' years."
The victory didn't come easy though by any means. For three quarters and about five minutes, the outcome of the championship juggernaut between top-ranked Lehi and second-ranked Wasatch was very much in doubt.
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With Wasatch leading 33-31 after a pair of Cottle free throws, Lehi had three chances to tie the game three times thanks to several offensive rebounds, but that possession ended in the turnover. Virtually the same thing happened on the other end of the floor, but the Wasps were able to accomplish what Lehi couldn't.
Following two Cottle missed lay-up attempts in traffic, Darin Mahoney got his fingers on the ball and tipped it in to put Wasatch ahead 35-31 with 2:10 remaining.
The Pioneers had plenty of time to get back in the game, but they were faced a seasoned team that had experienced the pressure before.
"I think we had the advantage because we were here last year," said Magnusson. "I think we were a little more relaxed and under control."
Lehi center Ben Walker had a chance to cut Wasatch's lead in half at the foul line, but he only made one of two free throws, and Cottle was quickly fouled again.
He made both to put Wasatch ahead 37-32, and Lehi didn't score again until the waning seconds.
"We expected this (all year), but we knew there was a lot of hard work to go along with it," said Cottle.
For Cottle, he had to work exceptionally hard.
Wasatch's spark plug is notorious for his ability to penetrate and get to the foul line or dish to teammates for easy baskets. Lehi, and particularly point guard Drew Robinson, did an absolutely phenomenal job of shutting down that aspects of Wasatch's game in building a 18-14 halftime lead.
"We talked about things we could do better," said Wasatch coach Lonnie Magnusson about his halftime pep-talk. "But mostly we talked about defense and how that could get us where we wanted to be."
The Wasps' increased defensive intensity forced the Pioneers into just 4-of-18 shooting in the second half and five turnovers.
Offensively, the second half turned into a Cottle foul shooting clinic.
Of his 15 second-half points, 13 came at the charity stripe.
"I had to come out and get it going, and get some drives and penetration," said Cottle.
Ultimately, Lehi had no answer for Cottle.
In other 3A games:
PINE VIEW 57, SNOW CANYON 50: The Panthers jumped out to a 10-point halftime lead, which was more than enough to hold off the poor-shooting Warriors for the consolation championship. Jesse Stott led Pine View with 14 points, while Jason Anderson added 13.
BEAR RIVER 63, MORGAN 56: The Bears avenged two region losses to Morgan during the regular season in winning the third-place game. Despite trailing by two at the half, Bear River outscored Morgan 35-24 in the second half. Jason Zundel led Bear River with 19 points, while Darren Hadley topped Morgan with 16 points.
3A Boys All-Tourney team
MVP: Josh Cottle, Wasatch
Michael Giovacchini, Judge
Bowie Jeffs, Emery
Logan Magnusson, Wasatch
Drew Robinson, Lehi
Ben Walker, Lehi
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com