For over 80 years until they were demolished in 2000, two large smokestacks stood on the site in Murray where the Intermountain Medical Center now stands and could be seen from anywhere in the Salt Lake valley.
In Monday’s 5A quarterfinal basketball game, Timpview probably felt like it was trying to shoot over those smokestacks going up against Murray’s Bowen Davies and Dai’Shaun Buie.
Davies, the state’s leader in blocked shots, and Buie combined for 11 blocks to spearhead a dominant defensive performance at the University of Utah by Murray as it rolled to the 64-44 victory.
Timpview shot just 21 percent from the field, 16 percent from 3-point range and only scored 16 points in the paint.
“It gives us that luxury when you have those guys inside to play a different way defensively, so it really seemed like we stifled what they wanted to do,” said Murray coach Jason Workman.
It’s rare for high school teams to have the luxury of a rim protector, and on Monday Murray had two.
Davies finished the game with 12 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks, while Buie came off the been to record six points, six rebounds and five blocks. Chudi Anosike, the state’s leading scorer, led all scorers with 21 points.
With the win, Murray advances to its first semifinal since it lost to American Fork in the 2011 semis back when it still played in the state’s largest classification. It will take on Woods Cross on Wednesday at 8:40 p.m.
“The pressure was on these last three games because these types of years with this talent don’t come along that often. The pressure was on to take advantage of it,” said Workman.
The win was also extra week for Anosike, Davies and point guard Jaxson Workman, who lost to Timpview as sophomores in the 5A quarterfinals.
Those three combined for 39 points on Monday.
Early on, Workman said his players were forcing shots and playing a bit rushed. As a result, it struggled to create offense in that first quarter and trailed 10-8.
About midway through the second quarter Murray started to find its offensive rhythm and closed the half a 13-0 run to surge to a 26-14 halftime lead.
The Spartans made 6 of 11 3-pointers in that opening half while Timpview struggled from behind the arc at just 1 of 10.
Timpview wasn’t much better from inside the 3-point line as it shot a combined 18 percent in the first half.
Murray maintained the 12-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, and then extended it with a dominant fourth quarter.
Workman said he always expected to win, but expected it to be a higher-scoring game. His defensive pressure around the perimeter and in the lane was even better than he expected and the result was a rough night shooting for the T-Birds.
“We were really stingy defensively,” said Workman.