High school boys basketball: No. 1 Corner Canyon dismantles Westlake for easy 6A quarterfinal victory

Box score

Three weeks ago, No. 1 Corner Canyon narrowly held on to beat Westlake to stay perfect in region play.

It was a performance that gave Westlake hope about pulling off the upset in Tuesday’s rematch in the 6A quarterfinals at the Dee Events Center.

Nope.

The Chargers played a near flawless game from the opening jump as they overwhelmed Westlake en route to the emphatic 83-53 victory to advance to the semifinals.

Corner Canyon shot 51%, including 45% from 3, and outrebounded Westlake 41-32.

“We just came to play. We played our hardest. I thought we played really well defensively and were shutting them down,” said Corner Canyon guard Jaxon Roberts, who was outstanding with 22 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Corner Canyon coach Dan Lunt said it was just another typical performance from the senior who averaged 14.5 ppg in the regular season.

“That’s him every game. He does what’s asked of him. The biggest thing (is) he plays with heart,” said Lunt.

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Brody Kozlowski added 19 points for the Chargers, while Kallen Lewis chipped in with 16 as collectively everyone picked up the slack, with leading scorer Max Toombs in foul trouble as he picked up three offensive foul calls in the first half.

While everything looked easy for Corner Canyon offensively, Lunt said it all started at the other end.

“The kids got out and guarded. Everything we did today was because of our defense. We created shots, got us in rhythm and that’s what we have to do. Defense wins in these types of situations, and we’ve got to show up and guard,” said Lunt.

Corner Canyon held Westlake to just 3 of 11 of shooting in the first quarter as it jumped out to a 20-10 lead. The lead ballooned to 41-16 by halftime as the Thunder shot just 20% in the first half (5 of 25).

The 25-point halftime lead was Corner Canyon’s largest halftime lead of the season. Even in the 6A second round last week, the Chargers only led Herriman 48-44 heading into the fourth quarter before pulling away for the 71-55 victory.

Just like in Tuesday’s win, Corner Canyon pulled away with great defense.

“They were locked in. We preach it every day. We spend so much time on it, and guys were locked in,” said Lunt, whose team only allowed 51 ppg in region play.

Offensively, Corner Canyon was dialed in just as much, burying 11 of 24 3-pointers and 30 of 59 field goals as it eclipsed 80 points for the sixth time this season.

Leading scorer Toombs only accounted for nine of those points as he played just 19 minutes with foul trouble.