High school boys basketball: 6A semifinals, No. 1 Herriman, No. 2 Davis prevail, march into Thursday’s title game

Here’s a recap of the 6A semifinals at the University of Utah on Wednesday. This story will be updated.

Herriman 64, Corner Canyon 55

Cale Barclay put on a second-half show at the Jon M. Huntsman Center Wednesday night, and moved Herriman’s boys basketball team one step away from making history.

Barclay tied his career high with 28 points and dominated the second half as the Mustangs away Region 2 rival Corner Canyon 64-55 to keep its hopes alive for a first-ever state championship.

“It was a fight,” said Herriman coach Doug Meacham, whose team entered the tourney as the No. 1 seed in the 6A ranks after winning the region crown. “This team has never let me down. Through all the ups and downs (of the season), it’s like this team expected to be here.”

The Mustangs improved their record to 24-2 and advanced to play Davis, a school with a rich basketball tradition that has captured eight boys hoops titles, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on the University of Utah campus.

One of Herriman’s losses was to Corner Canyon. Meachem said he showed his players video of both games in a classroom-type lecture and asked if they noticed a difference.

The answer? Effort, and he tried to coach that from courtside while the gam endured several momentum shifts.

Corner Canyon took advantage of the first one. The Chargers rode the scoring of Noah Bendinger to take a 12-point first quarter lead, and coujld have turned the contest into a rout as the 6-foot-8 Barclay struggled against Corner Canyon’s defensive tactics. Fortunately, 6-9 center Zach Tanner scored 17 first-half points and teamed with Carlo Mulford to trigger a 9-0 scoring spurt to start the second quarter.

Herriman led 33-31 at halftime when Tanner rebounded a missed shot and scored just before the buzzer.

The second half was all about Barclay.

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“I love how Cale put that (first) half behind him and showed his aggressiveness,” Meacham said. “He can be a force both inside and outside and he put our team on his back when we needed him.”

With Herriman trailing 45-39, Barclay scored an old-fashioned three-point play with another rebound basket — and a foul — that clearly frustrated Corner Canyon coach Dan Lunt. The Chargers, however, responded when Tyler Mortensen matched it. But with the clock winding down, Barclay made a shot from distance to set up an even more memorable final stanza.

Barclay, who made 10 of 16 shots and added eight rebounds and five assists, nailed three baskets to start a 6-0 scoring run and Herriman never gave up the lead. Mulford then connected on a three-pointer and Shane Tia drew a charging call on defense moments later that inspired everyone on the Mustangs’ bench and student fan section nearby.

“That was a big play,” Meacham said. “Sometimes those 50-50 calls have to go your way for you to get a win.”

While the Mustangs shared the ball, Barclay made the decisive plays. He added two more free throws, a here-pointer and a tip-in on an inbounds lob play to finish the Chargers, who ended another fine season with an 18-8 record and have won two state titles in the school’s 11 years.

“It helps to have been there before,” said Meacham, whose squad lost to eventual champion Lehi in the semis last year. “The kids remember the feeling of playing on this court and know what it’s like.”

Bendinger led Corner Canyon in scoring with 19 points. Bryton Valdez added 13 and Mortensen 12. The Chargers shot 40.4 percent from the field, compared to Herriman’s 60 percent.

Davis 75, Layton 55

Davis and Layton are familiar foes, and the Region 1 co-champs are as evenly matched as they come. You wouldn’t know that based off the result of the two regular season games they played this year with each team running away with a big win. Wednesday’s 6A semifinal was no different, with Davis running away with the 75-55 victory to advance to Thursday’s state championship.

No. 2 seed Davis will play No. 1 seed Herriman in the title game at 7:30 p.m.

Layton came out fast and led by 12 after the first quarter, but Davis shrugged it off like it was nothing. The Darts prepared knowing Layton has a history of starting strong early.

“We play Layton enough to know that they start games really strong. That wasn’t a surprise to us. We talked about it before the game; don’t panic, stay within what we want to do, and I was really proud of the guys for sticking with them having the right mindset,” said Davis coach Chad Sims.

This played out on the court as Davis opened the second quarter on an 18-0 run with outstanding defense, moving the ball and ultimately holding Layton to just four points in the quarter, to take a 28-25 lead into halftime.

“We didn’t want them to come out with the hot start, but we were ready for it and took their punch and we punched right back,” said Davis guard Bode Sparrow.

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Davis certainly did punch back and kept the punches coming, continuing its response after halftime with another run, this time outscoring Layton 16-2 with multiple big baskets by Coleman Atwater, Bode Sparrow and JT Turley.

The Darts had four players in double figures with Coleman Atwater leading the scoring with 18 points and four rebounds, and Bode Sparrow chipping in with 17 points. TJ Turley added 16 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

“There is no moment too big for those guys. They’re super competitive. That’s their superpower,” said Sims.

Layton didn’t go quietly and used a nine-point run of its own as the third quarter drew to a close attempting to keep the game from running away from them.

The Lancers started pressing, trying to force Davis into mistakes. Davis worked through the press with ball movement, and the assists piled on. Davis out-assisted Layton in the game 21-4, and its ability to pass around Layton made all the difference.

“Layton is a really good help defensive team. They’re big in the middle so we knew if we got to the rim we weren’t going to have a clean shot. We were going to have to move the ball a little bit and guys stepped up and made baskets,” said Sims.

Layton was led by Sam Romer who accounted for 23 points in the loss and Karter Miller with 17.