OGDEN — Before Saturday, one score stood out in Judge coach Jim Yerkovich's mind more than any other — 64-59. That was the final score of Judge's last state title victory, a win over American Fork back in 1980.
Yerkovich now has another final score to stash away in the memory bank — 40-29. That was the final score of Judge's 3A championship victory over Tooele at the Dee Events Center.
While Tooele was playing for the memory of the late coach Gary Alverson as well as back-to-back titles, Judge's players knew that after 40 years of coaching, Yerkovich was running out of time to win his second state title.
"It was in the back of our minds. We had to think about it 'cause our coach, he's getting to the end of his career, and we had to think about it because our year went so well," said Judge forward Marcus Walisky.
Judge's formula for success was pretty similar to its other 23 victories this year — defense.
The Bulldogs held Tooele to 29 percent shooting from the field while outrebounding the Buffaloes 31-20.
"They played so well defensively," said Yerkovich, who says he's still got a few more years left in him. "I was so proud of them because that's always been the heart of our program."
That defense was never more important than in the fourth quarter. Leading 31-23 after three, Judge went the first 6:24 of the fourth quarter without scoring. Amazingly, the Bulldogs only surrendered six points that entire quarter and eventually pulled away at the charity stripe.
Tooele managed to whittle Judge's lead to 31-27 midway through the fourth, but in the Buffaloes' next five possession they turned the ball over four times.
"We couldn't put the ball in the hole that well, so we had to play tough D," said Judge point guard Jaxon Myaer, who led the Bulldogs with 14 points.
While Tooele was clearly having an off night shooting, Tooele assistant coach Danny Medina believes Judge's defense, and particularly Daniel Deane, played a big factor.
"The Deane kids is for real in his defensive set," said Medina, who was an assistant coach at Judge from 1985 to 1992. "We saw him on film make people change their shots or hurry it a hair, and that's what he did tonight."
Tooele's game plan was to take it to Deane early, and hopefully get him in foul trouble. It worked on the opening possession of the game as the Buffaloes pounded it in low and got the call their were hoping for.
After falling behind 5-0 early, Judge settled down, went on a 10-0 run and never relinquished the lead.
Nonetheless, Tooele was only down 20-16 at the half and still very much in the game. That all changed when Myaer and Walisky hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second half, giving Judge a 10-point lead.
After the game, Medina tried consoling his players — who wanted to win so badly for the legacy of coach Alverson — with a quote from Judge's longtime coach, ironically enough.
"I quoted Jim Yerkovich the year (1991) when we had a really talented team with Jimmy Soto and the boys and we got dumped by Ogden. He said, 'Keep your heads up. If this is the worst thing that happens to you, you live a great life,' " said Medina.
While Myaer led the away offensively for Judge, Deane chipped in with nine points and 10 rebounds. Mike Holt led Tooele with 14 points.
3A All-Tournament Team
MVP — Daniel Deane, Judge
Mike Holt, Tooele
Nash Lockie, Tooele
Jaxon Myaer, Judge
Charles Abouo, Logan
James Lark, Pine View
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com