High school boys basketball: Bryce Valley edges out Manila in 1A semifinals

RICHFIELD — It was a dogfight right until the end as Bryce Valley edged out Manila in the 1A boys state basketball semifinals Friday night in Richfield.

Bryce Valley was able to pick up the 52-49 win in overtime.

“That was a whale of a game,” said Gary Syrett, who is in his seventh year as Bryce Valley’s head coach. “I’m still in amazement.”

At the end of regulation, the game was knotted at 46-all.

That’s when Bryce Valley’s Treyson Roberts unleashed a six-point spree on Manila, hitting two baskets from the field and pumping in a pair of foul shots with 55 seconds to go in the bonus period.

Manila wasn’t done, as Quinn Saldana stole the ball and drove the bucket with 39.7 seconds left.

It proved to be the last scoring play of the game as Bryce Valley held on to claim a trip to the championship.

Bryce Valley 52, Manila 49

(Box score)

Leading scorers

Bryce Valley: Treyson Roberts, 18

Manila: Jordan Lucio, 14

Manila keyed in on Roberts early, holding him to just one field goal through the first half.

“Treyson has been out leading scorer all year,” Syrett said. “Manila was fantastic and did as good of a job as anyone all year on him.”

However, as the game rolled on, Roberts increasingly became a force on the court.

“He’s the type of player, when he gets rolling and feeling good, he becomes really difficult to stop,” Syrett said.

Manila’s Jordan Lucio started the game by snagging the tipoff and sprinting to score the first points within five seconds. On the next possession for Manila, he fired off a 3-pointer. Teammate Dalton Taylor also dropped in a trey for Manila in the first stanza.

“He’s the type of player, when he gets rolling and feeling good, he becomes really difficult to stop.” — Bryce Valley coach Gary Syrett on Treyson Roberts

Then Bryce Valley responded as Roberts scored from inside, along with a pair of jumpers from Westyn Clark. A 3-pointer from Quayden Tebbs put Bryce Valley up 11-8 at the end of the first period.

In the second stanza, Manila started an outside attack with downtowners from Dalton Taylor and Lucio, as well as buckets by Cody Muir to take a 25-21 lead into the break.

“Manila played amazing tonight, and I have nothing but respect for their team and coaches,” Syrett said.

Manila continued to lead through the third period, but a pair of 3-pointers by Bryce Valley’s Treyson Clark help close the gap toe 33-31 heading into the final regulation period.

Sergio Vasquez dropped in a trey for Bryce Valley, as well as four free throws to help tie up the game at the end of regulation.

Bryce Valley will take on Region 20 rivals Panguitch for the fourth time this year in the championship game at the Sevier Valley Center Saturday starting at 6:30 p.m.