We were a lot bigger than them and (our coaches) wanted us to get the ball down low, and our guards did a great job of feeding us the ball in the post and we just finished. – Josip Vrankic
OREM — The Wakefield High Warriors, who traveled here all the way from Arlington, Virginia, had tremendous quickness, plenty of solid shooters and a ton of athletic ability.
What the Warriors didn't have, however, was an answer for Wasatch Academy big man Josip Vrankic.
Vrankic, a slender 6-foot-8 senior forward, poured in 39 points — making an unstoppable 15-of-18 of his two-point attempts along with a pair of 3-pointers and three free throws — and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Tigers to a 75-64 victory in the second round of the FreeTaxUSA.com Shootout at Orem High.
"Our main focus was to try and pass them and play our style, not their style," Vrankic said. "We were a lot bigger than them and (our coaches) wanted us to get the ball down low, and our guards did a great job of feeding us the ball in the post and we just finished."
Vrankic, who grew up in Toronto but whose parents are from Serbia — his father played professional basketball — is naturally left-handed, but has learned to shoot his jump shots right-handed while using his left hand for most of his layups and other shots inside.
He scored 12 points in the second quarter to help the Tigers take a 37-32 halftime lead. He added 11 points in the third quarter as the Tigers maintained a 55-48 margin at the third stop, then scored his team's first 10 points of the final period as they opened up a double-digit lead, vaulting them to their second straight tourney win.
"We were a lot bigger, so we wanted to utilize our size and our strength against them," he said. "That was the game plan going in; we scouted them a little bit and we knew how they liked to play. They're a really aggressive team and like to get after it. They shoot the ball very well; they're all very good shooters, so we tried to back of them a little bit and just get the ball inside."
Junior guard Emmanuel AKot added 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Wasatch Academy, while Damion Squire, Jeff Baradziej, Zion Young, Matija Silic and Mady Sissoko also contributed to the victory.
For Wakefield, lightning-quick senior guard Halil Parks poured in 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Alan Treakle added 13 points, five assists and four rebounds for the Virginia team, and Ben Horsford was also in double digits with 11 points off the bench, all of them coming in the second half.
"Wakefield's a very good team," Wasatch Academy coach Curtis Condie said. "I believe they went 26-3 last year, so this is a good win for us. They came wanting to play us in this tournament, so we have a bull's-eye on our back.
"We're trying, we're building, we're trying to get better every day, and we've got a good group of young men that are high character."
Coach Condie credited Vrankic for being a talented young man with a good head on his shoulders.
"Josip presents some problems, and I'm happy that he's already signed and headed to Santa Clara," he said of the California school, a member of the West Coast Conference, where former NBA star Steve Nash played his college ball. "So people will be able to see him here in the valley when they come play that school down south (BYU) — or where we live, the school up north.
"He has a very high basketball IQ."
In Friday's earlier games of the three-day tournament, Timpview turned back British Columbia Christian 70-62, and Springville defeated the Lone Peak junior varsity 76-65. In the later games, tourney host Orem faced Mountain View, Arizona; and Lone Peak's varsity took on Smoky Hill, Colorado.
EMAIL: rhollis@desnews.com