BOUNTIFUL — For three quarters Friday, Davis made rival Viewmont look like a Jr. Jazz team, not a likely third-place team from Region 1.
At one point the Vikings went scoreless for 8:21 between the first and second quarters by missing 11 straight shots, and in broader futility scored just five points during an 18-minute span between the first and third quarters, falling behind by 25.
Viewmont finally started scoring with regularity in the fourth quarter, trimming Davis’ lead to eight points in the final few minutes, but the early hole was simply too much to overcome as the Darts rolled to the 55-40 victory.
“I thought for three quarters we executed our game plan great. Defensively I thought we locked them down. Caleb Leonhardt was great for us, I thought Landon Swartz was great for us,” said Davis coach Chad Sims, whose team improved to 16-3 overall and 9-1 in Region 1 with the victory.
Jesse Wade led Davis with 22 points, while Swartz added 15 and six rebounds to pace the Darts to a 36-11 lead late in the third quarter.
Davis enjoyed a 25-8 edge in points off turnovers, with most of the damage coming during that decisive 18-minute stretch. When the Vikings weren’t turning it over, they couldn’t buy a bucket either, making just 5 of 28 shots in falling behind by 25.
Much of those woes were behind the arc, with Viewmont making just 1 of 19 from 3-point range for the game.
Beginning at the 1:07 mark of the third quarter, however, when Jake Walker scored on a driving layup, Viewmont finally started to play with some offensive urgency.
Walker’s layup was the first of 12 straight trips down the court in which the Vikings scored points, a 21-4 stretch in which Viewmont trimmed the lead to 40-32 with 2:50 remaining.
A bunch of those points came at the foul line, with several more coming off turnovers as Davis got stagnant offensively and stopped attacking the basket.
“In the fourth, we got a little complacent, didn’t execute offensively, and their aggressiveness put us in positions we were ready for,” said Sims.
Walker scored 12 of his team-high 16 points during the brief fight from Viewmont.
Davis’ Swartz eventually quelled the rally with back-to-back layups, pushing the lead back to double digits in the final two minutes, where the Darts eventually iced the win from the foul line.
Even though the finish wasn’t as convincing as Sims would’ve liked, he was very pleased with the first three quarters and the direction his team is headed.
“This is a big rivalry for both schools. Coach (Jeff) Emery does such a good job and we knew it was important to get out to an early start and our kids did that,” said Sims.
“I like where our kids are at. I like our chemistry, I like how focused we are right now. We’re just taking it one game at a time and looking forward to the next one.”
Deseret News prep editor and Real Salt Lake beat writer.