Box score
When Herriman’s Carlo Mulford buried a 3-pointer with under five minutes remaining in the 6A state championship on Thursday night, it put his team back in front by three and halted a mini Davis surge to open the quarter.
Davis coach Chad Sims sensed a momentum shift and called a time-out.
The response from his team was epic and clinched Davis its ninth state championship in school history . The Darts responded with an emphatic 17-2 run over four minutes as it ran away with the 75-66 victory in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at the University of Utah.
“We told them, you got to make a play. I can draw up whatever you want, but you got to make plays,” said Davis coach Chad Sims.
Boy, did they ever.
Led by Bode Sparrow and Coleman Atwater, and a massive 3-pointer from Bryker Couser, Davis scored on five of six possessions coming out of the timeout to extend its lead to 61-55. The lead stretch to 57-55 by the time Herriman halted a 1-for-9 stretch on a Cale Barclay 3-pointer with 58 seconds left.
By that point Davis’ fans were already in full-blown celebration mode.
“I’m excited for our community. Davis High is special and very special to me and my family. I’m just excited for our community and our school and obviously our players, our former players. That’s what I’m most happy for, just the whole community,” said Sims.
When Mulford’s 3-pointer put Herriman up 53-50, Davis start Atwater said there was no panic in the timeout.
“We’ve been in that position many times this year, and I think it just dials back down to trust. You know, we trusted each other. We trusted the plays our coach called. I trusted Bode to go and get a layup. He trusted me to go get a layup. And so I think we trusted each other and really dug deep and loved each other, and that’s what got it done,” said Atwater, who led all scorers with 24 points.
Sparrow drove baseline and converted at the rim to cut the lead to 53-52, and then shortly after Sparrow finished at the rim after a tremendous spin move in the paint that gave his team the lead for good 54-53.
At the other end, Herriman just went cold at the wrong time.
“Well, we feel fortunate. Herriman is a really good team, really good players. We just happened to go on the run at the right time. I mean, if there was another quarter, maybe they would have made that run too. Feel very fortunate,” said Sims, who also coached Davis to a 6A title in 2021.
Sparrow finished with 16 points, while JT Turley added 12.
Davis benefited from outstanding shooting from 3-point range as it made 9-of-19 3s, including six in the first half. Herriman executed extremely well offensively in the first half in building nine-point lead late in the half, and taking a 34-30 lead into the half.
Herriman led the entire second and third quarter led by Mulford’s 23 points and 21 more from Cale Barclay. Davis never let the lead get too big with great execution of its own.
The Darts also outrebounded Herriman 31-20, only allowed six offensive rebounds — no small feat against the taller Herriman squad.
Herriman led 46-43 after the third quarter, but Davis opened the fourth on a 7-2 run highlighted by a Tradon Bessinger 3-pointer giving his team its first lead since 17-16. Mustangs coach Doug Meacham called a timeout, and it quickly went on a 5-0 run capped by Mulford’s angle-left 3-pointer with 4:50 left in the game.
It was all Davis from that point forward.
Atwater scored eight of his 24 points in the decisive run, and Sims said he wasn’t one bit surprised to see the senior go out with a flurry.
“I’m not surprised. He’s been prepping for this moment for a while. He’s been focused the whole year, our whole senior class, we have four seniors, they’ve been super focused, and they haven’t wavered the whole season,” said Sims.
Davis’ victory was its 12th straight to end the season, but Atwater said the loss right before the win streak helped make it all possible, a 66-43 loss at rival Layton.
“It was probably the most important thing that happened all year. It kind of punched us in the face and made us realized you can’t just walk out there and get it, you got to prepare everything you can every game, you’ve got to be locked in because in the state tournament, it’s one game and it’s over,” said Atwater.
Davis avenged that loss later in region play, and then again in the 6A semifinals 24 hours earlier, both by double figures.
As he soaked in the moment watching teammates and coaches cut down the net, Atwater said, “It was probably the funnest, best basketball game I’ve ever played in.”
6A All-tournament team
MVP — Coleman Atwater, Davis
Bode Sparrow, Davis
JT Turley, Davis
Cale Barclay, Herriman
Carlo Mulford, Herriman
Karter Miller, Layton