Top to bottom, it’s a tough, tough region. I’m just happy to be on top. – Pine View coach Darrell Larsen
WEST VALLEY CITY — There is no love lost between the Dixie and Pine View boys basketball teams.
Just 4.5 miles apart, the teams get to see and hear a lot of each other in the tight-knit St. George community. They are the epitome of a small-town rivalry.
Which could have had something to do with the amount of tension that was infused into the 3A state championship game between the two, which Pine View won, 46-43, at the Maverik Center on Saturday afternoon.
That tension was revealed through the Flyers’ early shooting woes as Dixie hit just 25 percent of its shots in the first half. That tension was also on display in the heated comments directed at the Pine View coach by Dixie fans as the Panthers cut down the nets.
Whether they like each other or not, Pine View coach Darrell Larsen knows playing Dixie, as well as the other talented Region 9 teams during the regular season, is what prepared his squad to be the last team standing at the end of the state tournament.
“Top to bottom, it’s a tough, tough region,” Larsen said, whose team split region contests with Dixie, each winning on the other team’s court by a single point. “I’m just happy to be on top.”
Unlike the rest of the Pine View playoff victories, but exactly like the other three Dixie tournament games, the championship wasn’t decided until the final buzzer.
With less than 10 seconds to go and a 45-43 lead, Pine View senior Garret Bowker stole the ball from Dixie in the frontcourt and was immediately fouled. Bowker hit his first free throw, missed the second, and Pine View senior Kody Wilstead controlled the long rebound in the corner near his team’s bench.
Even after an official’s whistle, Wilstead remained in that spot with his arms wrapped tightly around the ball as the referees discussed whether there was a foul with time remaining or if time had expired during the melee of the final play.
They determined the game was over, called for the final buzzer, and the Pine View bench erupted.
“It’s amazing; I don’t even know how to explain it,” senior guard Charles Petersen said after accepting the championship trophy and cutting down a piece of the net.
“It’s the best feeling ever though,” he said. “I can’t be happier right now.”
The Panthers jumped out the gate Saturday, scoring eight quick points and taking advantage of the Flyers’ fatigue after their four-overtime victory the night before. Pine View held a 10-point lead by the end of the first quarter and increased it by one, 30-19, at halftime.
Petersen was the key to the Panthers’ early success, scoring 16 of his team’s first-half points on 71 percent shooting from the floor
“I just came out aggressive,” said the 5-foot-11 guard, who finished with 18 points. “Coach just told me to be aggressive and I felt like I could beat my man off the dribble and get to the lane. I felt like the hoop was pretty big in the first half.”
Pine View maintained its control over the first six minutes of the third quarter, pushing its lead to 35-24 on a Wilstead bucket and a Bowker 3-pointer in transition. But with 1:53 left in the period, Dixie guard Tyler Bennett took over.
The 6-foot-3 junior spanned the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth with his own 12-0 scoring run. Bennett scored driving the lane, on fade-away jumpers from the post; he scored by drawing fouls and converting on 3-point-plays, and in transition after getting the steal.
By the end of Bennett’s run, the Flyers had come all the way back and taken their first lead of the game, 36-35, a lead that would change hands five more times before the final buzzer.
“Bennett’s a great player,” Larsen said of the Dixie guard, who scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds. “You just try to do what you can against him.”
The Flyers continued to get the ball to Bennett, but Pine View defender Kendrick Spencer made a couple of key defensive plays down the stretch to stifle the Dixie guard’s efforts.
Meanwhile, Wilstead stepped up on the offensive end for the Panthers, scoring eight of his 15 points in the final eight minutes and grabbing some key boards, including on the final play.
“We kinda struggled down at the end,” said Wilstead, who finished with 14 rebounds. “Dixie’s always a great comeback team, we knew they would be, but we were able to pull through.”
The title is the third in school history for Pine View and is the crowning moment for Larsen and his staff after rebuilding a program that was depleted when Desert Hills opened across town in 2008.
“It’s been seven, eight years we’ve been at this and it feels great to be able to build something yourself,” said the coach. “A lot of administrators would have fired me. I know in those first few years it was probably more losses than wins, and I know that if it wasn’t for our administration believing in the picture we painted … they stuck with us. It’s just nice to see the end result.”
All-Tournament Team
MVP: Kody Wilstead, Pine View
Team:
Charles Petersen, Pine View
Tyler Bennett, Dixie
Jake Hawes, Dixie
Quincy Mathews, Desert Hills
Brandon Willardson, Richfield
Sarah Thomas earned a degree in Mathematics from the University of Utah and is currently pursuing an MBA at Westminster College. She has been covering sports for the Deseret News since 2008.