Skyline 64, Olympus 62
The defending 5A state champions had won 18-straight games heading into its home showdown with rival Skyline Tuesday night, but that win streak found its end.
The Titans fought back from a nine-point halftime deficit, and even took a nine-point lead of its own late in the game, but the Eagles made the plays it needed to down the stretch to secure a 64-62 road victory.
Skyline received big games from seniors Yorgio Golesis (22 points) and Peter Broadbent (18 points), to propel them to the win. Olympus junior Dutch DowDell led all scorers with 23 points. The result dealt Olympus its second loss of the year and paved the way for Skyline to knot things up atop the Region 6 standings, as both the Titans and the Eagles now sit at 7-1 in region play.
The win shows the recent trajectory of the Eagles, who were defeated by Olympus by 33 points over three weeks ago. Since the blowout defeat, Skyline has yet to lose a game.
“(Olympus) is tough and talented and extremely well coached (and) obviously coach Barnes is as great of a coach as there is in our state. I just thought our guys hung in there and stayed together when the game got tough. We love the fight that our guys have. ... We have not arrived — I want to be really clear about that — but to beat a team like (Olympus) on their floor is a big step for us,” Skyline coach Marcus Frazier said.
Farmington 70, Davis 59
Just over three weeks ago, Farmington suffered a home defeat at the hands of crosstown rival Davis, but on Tuesday, it got to return the favor. Despite trailing by 11 points at the halftime break, the Phoenix responded with a big second half to run away with a 70-59 victory.
Farmington outscored Davis 50-28 in the second half, including a 28-11 scoring advantage in the third quarter. Farmington’s Jayden Haskell (game-high 23 points) and Braden Larsen (15 points) got hot in the third period, helping the Phoenix to storm back and take control of the game.
Down the stretch, Paul Beattie hit key shots for the Phoenix, helping them see out the victory. Also helping Farmington’s case was its stellar 15-for-17 free throw shooting (88%) and seven-for-eight 3-point shooting (87%) in the second half. Farmington improved to 12-6 on the season and 4-4 in what has been a tough and balanced Region 1 this year.
“We had a hard time making shots in the first half and didn’t execute our defensive game plan, but we just talked about making easier plays in the second half and we caught fire at the right time. Davis is so tough defensively and shoots the 3 so well, and we did a good job taking that away in the second half,” Farmington coach Kasey Walkenhurst said.
Cyprus 60, Roy 52
The Cyprus Pirates entered Tuesday with a spotless 7-0 record in Region 2 play, but arguably their toughest challenge in the region came three weeks prior when they faced Roy on the road.
Similar to the game 21 days ago, 6A’s second-ranked Pirates were given a challenge from the Royals, but managed to finish on top with a 60-52 scoreline. Cyprus used a 22-15 scoring advantage in the third quarter to separate itself from Roy.
The teams were neck and neck the other three quarters, as the Pirates only outscored the Royals by one point combined in those three quarters. As he’s done all season, senior Quentin Meza delivered for the Pirates, scoring a game-high 29 points — his fifth time eclipsing the 29 point threshold this season.
Cyprus secured a three game advantage in the region standings, improving to 8-0 in Region 2 and 17-3 overall.
“Our guys fought and they earned a tough region win tonight. It’s good for this group to have these tough region games. It will help us in the long run. We need to learn to execute down the stretch and get stops when we need them, and tonight we did that,” Cyprus coach Tré Smith said.
Cedar Valley 55, Tooele 51
Cedar Valley was given a surprise test Tuesday night, as the 13-5 Aviators went on the road to face winless Tooele. Trailing by four at the end of the third period, Cedar Valley erased the deficit to force overtime, where it outscored the Buffaloes 9-5 to clinch a 55-51 victory.
Save its two losses to region leader Cottonwood, the test was arguably the toughest challenge the fifth-ranked Aviators have faced in their Region 7 campaign. The Aviators received a bit of fortune in the form of Tooele’s free throw shooting (7-for-16 from the line), as the Buffaloes shot just 43% from the stripe.
Cedar Valley struggled to contain Tooele senior Jacob Hansen, who scored a game-high 20 points on five made 3-pointers. Senior Kevin Cota stuffed the stat sheet for the Aviators, notching 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
The matchup proved to be a great learning opportunity for the Aviators, who are looking to potentially enter the 5A tournament as a top-five seed.
“Hats off to Tooele tonight. They came out with a lot of energy and hit a lot of tough shots. We struggled to get our game going offensively but found a way to make enough plays down the stretch to get the win,” Cedar Valley coach Blake Pugmire said.