OGDEN — Brighton had ’em right where it wanted.
Up 13 early in the third quarter, everything was going the Bengals' way in the 5A championship at the Dee Events Center against Layton.
Little by little though, that lead started to unravel until it disappeared for good with 2.3 seconds remaining as Layton completed a comeback with a rebound putback in the waning seconds for the 48-46 victory.
“Credit to Layton for making the push when they needed to and coming out on top today,” said Brighton coach Jeff Gardner..
Brighton trailed for a total of 12 seconds in the second half against Layton — and probably less than two minutes of the entire 5A state tournament.
When the Bengals opened up a 33-20 lead with 6:05 remaining in the third quarter, they were threatening to run away with their first state championship since 1996.
The shots stopped dropping after that.
“Their pressure man-to-man hurt us. They took us a little out of rhythm. They’ve got really good quickness, and frankly it took us a little bit out of our comfort zone of running our stuff and getting catches where we need to get catches,” said Gardner. “They’re a good defensive team. We just had a hard time getting the ball in the basket the last quarter and a half.”
In fact, after leading by 13, Brighton only made six baskets the rest of the game — and zero free throws — getting outscored 28-13.
After Layton took a 36-35 lead early in the fourth quarter, Brighton actually recovered quickly to take a 38-36 lead on a Brock Miller shot and actually stretched it to 46-40 with 3½ minutes remaining.
Gardner thought the turning point in the game came on Layton’s ensuing possession when Matt Cragun hit a 3-pointer.
“The big shot was when we were up six and they kicked out to the kid hit the three, and that pulled them back to within three, which is a big play in the game,” said Gardner.
Brighton didn’t score in those final three minutes.
It had a chance to play for the last shot in the final minute with possession, but instead took a contested shot near the basket, which missed.
Asked if Brighton should’ve played for the last shot, he said it’s easy to second guess a lot of things about the game.
“I told our kids after, there were a lot of things looking back that could’ve happened differently, it played out how it played out,” said Gardner. “We were in our spread, which is basically a layup is what we’re looking to shoot if we’re going to shoot. We just didn’t get it down to the end.”
John Gremillion finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Bengals, and Gardner had nothing but praise afterward.
“He’s one of the more underrated players in the state. You don’t hear about him, but he’s a 14 (points) and nine (rebound) guy. He’s just a great kid, and has continued to develop each year he’s been her. Without Jonny, we definitely wouldn’t have built the lead like we did in the first half.”
Losing a second state championship in the past four years stung, but Gardner praised his group for a great season.
“Couldn’t be prouder of a group of kids than I am in that locker room. These eight seniors that we have are as close and tight-knit group as I’ve ever seen. I just couldn’t be prouder of them,” said Gardner.