High school boys basketball: Layton Christian battles to secure 4A championship

Box score

In the boys 4A state basketball championship, Layton Christian held off a late push from Cottonwood, securing the victory 58-53 and earning yet another state title for the program.

“It’s honestly just a dream come true,” Layton Christian head coach Casey Stanley said. “These guys have worked hard all year long. There’s not many times where they have a light day. They come in and they compete every day and they deserve it.”

Layton Christian had the scoring spread out amongst their team, with Alan Gballou and Tyrin Jones securing 12 and 11 points apiece.

Layton Christian took it to Cottonwood early, going up 12-8 after the first quarter. It was in the second quarter where Layton Christian was able to create some breathing room and the offense gave a big spark to the team.

Layton Christian outscored Cottonwood 24-14 in the second frame and took a sizable 36-22 lead into halftime.

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Cottonwood head coach Marc Miller was not pleased with how his team allowed Layton Christian to score and get to the basket as easy as they did in the first half.

“All we did in the locker was say, ‘Hey, if you’re not going to play tough and you’re going to play soft, you can’t play in this game.’ We had to match their physicality and the guys came out and battled in the second half,” Miller said.

The message was well received in the locker room at half. The defense tightened up for Cottonwood and they outscored Layton Christian 14-7 in the third quarter.

Cottonwood eventually got the deficit down to as much as four points. Layton Christian was dominant down the stretch and did what was necessary to secure the title.

“It’s all about the players who are confident in their ability and never doubted each other. They never got down, kept hustling, and getting loose balls. I couldn’t be more proud as a coach,” added Stanley.

For Cottonwood, Chris Cox put together a stellar performance in the loss by netting 26 points.

Even in defeat, Miller couldn’t help but think about all of the success that his team had this season that led them to this moment.

“I’m proud of my guys. They battled hard; we got down early but they didn’t give up,” Miller said. “We went in and made a few adjustments, came out and we just couldn’t knock down enough shots to pull it out. Props to Layton Christian. That is a big, good team all around. They got everything, and they were the better team tonight.”