With a balanced inside-out punch, the Alta Hawks edged the Mountain View Bruins 64-62 in the late game Monday of the boys 5A state basketball playoffs.
Alta came out of the gate with a 10-0 run behind 3-pointers from Brian Cameron and Taylor Brown to take charge of the game early.
The Hawks continued their bombs-away attack in the second period and when Brown hit his third trey of the half Alta opened up a 26-18 lead. The Bruins fought back with a 10-1 run which included Taylor Russell's third 3-pointer of the half and tied the score at 27.
In the second half, the Hawks came out with a different attack by taking the ball inside, where bruising big man Braden Hansen punished the Bruins for eight points in the third quarter to push Alta out to a 12-point lead. Mountain View struggled in the period and entered the final stanza trailing 52-42.
Tuitupou and Russell brought the Bruins back to within striking distance by combining for nine straight points midway through the fourth to cut Alta's lead to 56-53. But Brown responded with his fourth trey and the Hawks were able to hang on by turning the remainder of the game into a cat-and-mouse chase.
Brown led Alta with 18 points and Hansen scored 14. Tuitupou topped all scorers with 24 points and Russell chipped in season-high 19.
E-mail: jimr@desnews.com