Parowan 48, American Heritage 33
Parowan’s Cinderella story continued Friday with a convincing 48-33 win over American Heritage.
The Rams weren’t satisfied just eliminating the top-seeded Enterprise on Thursday. They made it clear Friday they want the 2A title.
Once again, effort was the winning ingredient for the Rams. They decisively won the rebounding and defensive battles.
It was important for the Rams to hinder the Patriots offensive game plan, especially following American Heritage’s shooting performance in the 2A quarterfinals, when it shot 53% from the field.
Parowan played a very tight man defense and effectively fought through screens which caused the American Heritage offense to score only 10 points in the first half.
Ram’s senior Brock Felder set the tone for his Parowan teammates by scoring the opening four points and getting an early block. Felder ended the night with 23 of Parowan’s 48 points.
“I mean energy is everything,” Felder said. “Big plays require great energy. Everyone worked really hard. I’ve never played in a state championship before, and I’m really excited.”
The effort from Felder seemed to influence his teammates and soon every Ram was sacrificing for the win.
After Felder’s start, Luke Millet had a chase down block in transition and Waylon Robinson took a charge. The effort started to snowball, earning the Rams a 23-10 lead at the half.
“At the beginning of the tournament, we preached constantly that the things we can control are rebounds and defense, ‘the controllables’” said Parowan assistant coach Trever Smith. “As long as we focus on ‘the controllables’ the offense will take care of itself.”
Smith continued, “We always tell these boys, ‘Yeah, we’re a team and we compete as a team, but you’re also competing as an individual.’ So, somebody like Brock (Felder) or Waylon (Robinson) or Cash (Mortensen) or anyone — who’s going to win between you and the guy that’s guarding you? If you can win that battle ... if everyone does their job competing as an individual then we’re also competing as a team.”
The defensive game plan for Parowan remained successful in the third quarter. The team only gave up 19 total points to the Patriots.
American Heritage was finally able to get its offense going in the fourth, scoring 14. The fourth quarter was its highest scoring quarter of the game.
But by then it was too little, too late to overcome the challenge that the Rams presented.
Parowan now has a chance to complete the team’s postseason run in the 2A championship game Saturday night.
Kanab 48, Duchesne 41
Kanab took a close 48-41 victory over Duchesne in the 2A semifinals and advanced to the championship game against Parowan.
Kanab’s Friday game was a game of runs. The team started the game strong, rebounding well and passing the ball well, earning the players a 12-3 lead in the first quarter.
But then Duchesne locked down its defense and only allowed seven second-quarter points for Kanab, resulting in a 19-15 Kanab lead at half.
Coming out of the half, Kanab got the upper hand, hitting multiple shots from behind the arc and once again gaining a strong lead (30-18).
For a moment, it seemed that the Cowboys were going to easily win the semifinal matchup.
But Duchesne wasn’t done yet. The Eagles responded with a 13-0 run to close out the third, gaining its first lead of the game, 31-30.
The run was largely made by Duchesne’s Parker Crum, who hit multiple outside shots to help lift the Eagles to the lead.
Going into the fourth, Duchesne held all the momentum and the pressure was on Kanab.
“We had to stay true to ourselves,” said Kanab coach Jerron Glazier. “In that stretch we started taking some bad shots that weren’t in flow and weren’t what we needed at the time. We just had to reset it, come back, and the boys finished that fourth quarter amazingly.”
He continued, “It means so much. It’s been our goal all year. These guys just made it possible. We’re excited for tomorrow and hopefully we can get some sleep tonight.”
Kanab senior Kason Janes opened the fourth with a tough bucket with the foul to regain the lead and reignite the flame for Kanab. Janes played a big part in the mental reset that made Kanab’s win possible.
“We have seven seniors on the team. We are just able to take what we’ve learned from last year and bring it to this year,” said Janes. “Earlier in the year we struggled, but all of us have been teammates for a while so it was just one of those moments where you’re like ‘OK, let’s go. We need each other to win this.’”
Kanab and Duchesne took turns retaking the lead in the fourth. However, with just over a minute left, Janes had a big block that allowed his team to hold onto a slim six point lead and take the win for the Cowboys.
“We’re so happy to get a shot. It’s been 50 years since Kanab has won a state championship so we’re just hoping to be able to put our names in the rafters with the others that won it,” said Janes.