OREM — After losing to Mount Vernon in last year's 1A title game, the Manila Mustangs did something their school has never done before — they captured a state basketball championship on Saturday by beating Duchesne 57-49.
"The first one is always the best," Manila's Jeff Catron said. "This just gets the tradition started at Manila. Saying you're a state champ, that's a big accomplishment."
It's also a feat that will be remembered for a long to come by the Manila players.
"It's unbelievable," Manila sophomore Casey Robinson said. "No words can describe it. We worked so hard to get here. It means everything."
What meant even more to the Mustangs was their experience losing in last year's championship game. This year they showed no jitters and calmly countered every run Duchesne threw at them.
"We were here last year and got a taste of it," Manila coach Scott Taylor said. "To start the game I think that really helped us. We weren't quite as nervous as we were last year."
It showed in the opening minutes of the game as Catron sparked the Mustangs to an early 13-5 run and a 17-10 first-quarter lead.
"We dug ourselves into to big of a whole to start the game," Duchesne coach Stan Young said.
Catron scored nine first-quarter points for the Mustangs and finished with a game-high 16. His teammate, Zac Schofield, chipped in 15 and nine rebounds despite playing with a sprained knee while Casey Robinson added 11 points and nine boards.
Typical of Manila's entire season, different players rose to the occasion at different times to lead the Mustangs to the championship.
With the game knotted at 43 in the final quarter, it was Gabe Bru's turn to come up big. Bru hit his first of two 3-pointers with 4:45 left in the game to give his team the lead for good at 46-43.
A basket by Duchesne's Sam Hoopes with 3:21 remaining cut Manila's lead to 48-47, but after two scoreless minutes Bru sealed the win by hitting his second 3-pointer with 1:36 left in the contest.
"If we need it from somebody, people step up," Taylor said. "We're a team. We do what we can. If it's needed they do it."
Considering Taylor had one player with two cracked ribs, one player with a sprained knee, three other players with sprained ankles and another player with hip trouble, production was needed from every player on the bench.
"They're all hobbled and here we are," Taylor said. "They don't quit. We came here with a job to do and we didn't quit until it was done."
Duchesne never quit either. The Eagles trailed by seven at the end of the first quarter and 25-12 with four minutes left in the first half. In the third quarter, Duchesne slowly chipped away at Manila's lead and tied the game at 35 on follow-up by Mitch Grant.
In the final four minutes of the third and first four minutes of the fourth, the game was tied four times before the Mustangs pulled away in the final minutes.
"Give our kids a lot credit," Young said. "They showed a lot of heart out there. We had no business being in the game as poorly as we played in the half."
In other 1A games:
TABIONA 59, MILFORD 55:Rowdy Rhoades scored 20 points and Eddie Jones and Kyle Graham each added 12 to lead Tabiona to a third-place finish at the 1A state tournament. Milford finished fourth and was paced by Justin Barnes' 16 points.
WATERFORD 60, MOUNT VERNON 49: Tyson Brazell and Kevin Pelo each scored 20 points to lead Waterford to fifth place. Juan Pablo Silveira concluded his high school basketball career by scoring 19 points in the loss. Mount Vernon finished the tournament in seventh place.
ESCALANTE 79, RICH 66: Chad Cottam scored 27 points to lead Escalante to sixth place. Adam McInelly added 21 in the Moquis' win. Rich finished in eighth place and was led by 23 points from Chez Sealy.