OREM — Murray knocked off a second-straight higher-seed in the 5A second round on Friday to punch its ticket into next week’s quarterfinals at the University of Utah.
Led by 10 points from Jake Pollei, No. 21 Murray eked out the 47-44 win over No. 5 Timpanogos in the low-scoring defensive game.
“I’m so proud of our guys getting two road wins. Timpanogos is an outstanding team and very long and athletic at every position. We had a hard time offensively getting looks that we wanted. But or guys had some incredible poise and came up with big shots from Jake Pollei, Jaxson Workman and Kyle Ross at crucial times,” said Murray coach Jason Workman. “Our defense was really impressive tonight. Especially inside with Bowen Davies, Pollei and Eric Anaafi. We survived against a very good and well coached squad.”
Timapnogos led 22-19 at the half, but Murray used a 14-9 edge in the third quarter to take a lead into the fourth that it maintained until the final whistle.
Here’s a recap of the other 4A second round games on Friday:
Timpview 46, East 43
Coleman Ford scored a game-high 17 points with six assists as Timpview outscored East 18-9 in the fourth quarter to rally for the second round win. Andre Mulibea recorded 24 points to least East in the loss.
Provo 53, Maple Mountain 50
Isaac Castagnetto netted a game-high 19 points as visiting Provo knocked off 5A top-seed Maple Mountain.
Farmington 77, Alta 75
Collin Chandler scored 24 points, while Truman Hendry added 18 as Farmington held off Alta’s fourth quarter rally for the 5A second round win. Jaden Brownell led Alta in the loss with 37 points.
Springville 76, Mountain View 52
After a tight first half, Springville came out in the second half and looked like a completely different team. An increased amount of second half aggression saw its getting easy points at the free throw line, quick and easy baskets, and eventually a significant lead. Four different players on Springville scored more than 12 points.
Bountiful 80, Park City 64
Like many other teams this year, Park City just couldn’t find a way to stop Bountiful big man Robert Whaley. Whaley, who finished with 38 points, essentially got whatever he wanted throughout the contest. Camron Chism added 18 points, while Austin Cooper chipped in with 14.
Woods Cross 62, Box Elder 50
Quaid Knell and Davis Creer both scored 16 points to pace Woods Cross to the comfortable region victory over region foe Box Elder.
Orem 71, Brighton 51
Orem was in attack mode early on and never took its foot off the pedal. The Tigers attacked Brighton from every part of the floor with four players with 12-plus points, led by Taft Mitchell with 23.