We felt like we were overpowering them at times so we went with the power corner play. Kasey Black punched it back and Bennett is a strong kid. He was in the state final basketball game and I mean he’s a stud. He finished it for us and it was really nice. – Dixie head coach Burt Myers
SANDY — It has been quite the year for Dixie High School star athlete Tyler Bennett.
After drilling a clutch 3-pointer in the 3A boys’ basketball playoffs, Bennett continued to demonstrate his comfort level and confidence in taking the final shot as he calmly buried the golden goal (86’) to help the Flyers edge Juan Diego 2-1 in OT and put his team back in the 3A state championship game Friday evening.
“I really don’t want to lose. I always feel like I can make the last shot or make that last pass or something and it just happened to work again today. That was our goal all year (to reach the championship game), so it feels really good to get back there,” Bennett said.
Juan Diego came out with aggressiveness and urgency to put Dixie up against the wall as it looked to take an early edge over the defending state champs.
The Soaring Eagle did a tremendous job executing their offense and took control of the tempo in the first 20 minutes, which gave them several great looks at the net.
“It was a very tough game. They gave such great options and in that first half we weren’t taking away their passing lanes very well. We did a lot better job in the second half, but Scott (Platz) has an incredible team over there,” Dixie head coach Burt Myers said.
The Flyers finally began to find a rhythm on offense and were able to draw first blood in the 32nd minute off Francisco Guzman’s beautiful goal to take a narrow 1-0 edge in the final minutes of the first half.
Then, just five minutes later in the 37th minute, Michael Digeronimo sliced through Dixie’s defense and drew a PK at about the 30-yard line to set up Brandon Sands’ tremendous goal off the deep PK to tie the game 1-1 at the break.
Juan Diego picked up right where it left off and was presented with a plethora of scoring opportunities in the first 20 minutes of the second half but failed to convert any of them as the Flyers’ defense came up with several huge stops.
“Our defense got a little bit weary and we weren’t stepping out. Finally we started stepping out and we were able to take better control of the game. Colton Chamberlin just read every through ball and played magnificently in the center for us,” said Myers.
Both teams had plenty of chances to break the draw and win the game, especially Juan Diego, but couldn’t convert in the final minutes at the match headed for overtime.
Then, just over five minutes into the first OT in the 86th minute, Dixie was presented with a corner kick, called a play and fully executed.
After centering the ball, Kasey Black saw a wide-open Bennett, punched it back and watched his teammate knock it right past Juan Diego’s ‘keeper to escape with the thrilling 2-1 overtime victory to advance to a second-straight 3A championship game.
“We felt like we were overpowering them at times so we went with the power corner play. Kasey Black punched it back and Bennett is a strong kid. He was in the state final basketball game and I mean he’s a stud," Myers added. "He finished it for us and it was really nice."
Ryan Love is a full-time student and has been a part-time sportswriter for the Deseret News since Oct. 2012.
Follow him on Twitter @RLove7724
EMAIL: rlove@deseretnews.com