There was no mistaking the school with the loftier boys basketball tradition Wednesday night.
The Alta Hawks brought their history, which includes four state championships, to Hillcrest High to take on the Huskies in a matchup between the 5A tourney’s No. 16 and No. 17 seeds.
Crew Eckman scored 17 points, Colin Hansen had 13 and Coby Goodfellow 10 as the Hawks’ postseason heritage continued with a 60-48 over the Huskies in a first-round game at Hillcrest’s gym.
Alta coach Travis Ohrn said he was proud his team advanced after a .500 season that was jilted by injuries to two of the team’s top players. The Hawks were no match for Region 6’s top three teams but they now have a chance to add another memorable event to school history Friday when they travel to take on top-seeded Timpview.
“That’s why we play ‘em (the games). Our kids will have no trouble getting motivated,” said Ohrn, who beat Timpview for the crown in 2023 but lost to the Thunderbirds last year in a quarterfinal.
“We know who’s next but we played good team basketball (tonight) and I knew if we kept doing what we were doing, we would get stops.”
The Hawks brought their boisterous student crowd and they had plenty to cheer about until their team’s 11-point second-quarter lead dipped to 42-39 early in the third quarter. At that point, however, Eckman broke loose for a layup, Hansen followed with a pair of free throws and Caleb Anderson made a short jumper.
Hillcrest never recovered. The Huskies, who sailed through most of their Region 4 schedule and finished the season with an impressive 15-9 record, hurt themselves with turnovers and also made just 4-of-8 free throws in the final period.
By comparison, Alta was steady and made all six of its fourth-quarter charity shots. Anderson also came to play late in the game and was 4-4 from the field in the final period.
“We’re undersized,” said Ohrn, who praised the 6-foot-6 Anderson and 6-2 Goodfellow for giving the Hawks a 26-22 rebound advantage. “It’s great to see kids step up when needed and at this time of the year.”
Hillcrest was led by Anthony Burris, who had 13 points off the bench, including a pair of three-pointers. Tyler Ashby and Cyrus Nielsen added 11 points each. The Huskies came a long way after losing 86-32 to Olympus in the season opener and had a 2-5 record after the first month of the regular season.