Orem led from start to finish and was able to get a really solid win over a determined Lone Peak team, 73-60.
It was a stellar performance from Orem’s Simeon Suguturaga, who was lights-out offensively. He led the game in scoring with 29 points.
“I thought we had a really good game. We’ve been playing a lot of games here early in the season and we are just now starting to get our football guys back,” said Orem head coach Jace Tavita. “Getting them integrated back with the team allows us to continue to work on our cohesion as a team and you can start seeing it all come together.”
The Tigers got contributions from players up and down the bench with Troy Kaufusi, Cooper Harris and Aisa Galea’i each reaching double digits in scoring on the night.
Lone Peak’s Saxon Young did his best to keep his team within shouting distance by scoring 27 points with five 3-pointers in the losing effort.
Orem scored eight straight points to start the game, and they never looked back. Leading 21-14 after the first quarter, the Tigers started the second quarter in similar fashion, this time going on a 9-1 run to create a little breathing room.
Looking for any sort of momentum, Lone Peak found it in a big way on a desperation three by Young as the first-half buzzer sounded, with the Orem leading 42-31 at half.
Lone Peak carried over that momentum and energy in the second half. Looking to make some adjustments, they switched to a zone, slowing down Orem’s transition play.
Lone Peak was able to make it as close as an eight-point deficit with two minutes remaining in the game, but Orem’s quick transition play ended up being too much.
“They really put some pressure on us there in the second half, but our guys just kept doing what they do and relied on each other. They made plays for one another, were strong with the ball and made smart decisions. We still have a lot we want to continue to work on defensively but overall I really like where we’re at,” Tavita said.