Here’s a recap of Monday’s 2A quarterfinals at UVU, with No. 4 South Sevier, No. 1 Kanab advancing and No. 7 Gunnison Valley advancing. This story will be updated.
Gunnison Valley 65, North Summit 62
Gunnison Valley head coach Tyson Moosman knew that if his team could fix a couple of mistakes, then it could beat Region 15 foe North Summit in Monday’s 2A quarterfinal.
The Braves dominated the region, which included two wins over the Bulldogs.
“Honestly, both those games in season we felt we walked away feeling like, ‘Man, if we did a couple of things on our end differently, then we could have won,’” Moosman said. “We had pretty good confidence coming in, and our second game with them, we had 23 turnovers, so we cleaned that up a little bit.”
Moosman’s belief proved correct after Gunnison Valley dominated the hustle stats to beat No. 2 North Summit 65-62.
However, in the first half, Gunnison Valley was playing catch-up. The Braves were more consistent at getting to the free-throw line and forced 12 turnovers, resulting in a six-point lead at the break.
Outside shooting wasn’t going the Bulldogs’ way, so the halftime message was about focusing on rebounding and fighting for extra possessions.
“(Rebounding) was our main speech in the locker room at halftime, and we knew coming into this game that it was going to be tight,” Moosman said. “We felt like the team that got some extra possessions coming out of that was going to be the team that came out on top. I think that’s how it ended up.”
Gunnison Valley didn’t just get extra possessions; it completely dominated the rebounding battle 43-26.
It also outscored North Summit 20-12 in the third quarter to take its first lead of the half. The first six points of the half were all off offensive boards, which it had 13 in total.
Daxton Knudsen was huge for the Bulldogs as he put up a 20 point 18 rebound double-double. He also had five assists. Talan Dyreng also had 22 points with seven rebounds.
The fourth quarter was back and forth, and North Summit built up a three-point lead. But through more putbacks, Gunnison Valley stayed right with it.
A tough finish from North Summit’s Tayton Pace gave it a one-point lead with just under 30 seconds left. Pace was the Braves’ leading scorer with 18 points.
Gunnison Valley came back down, but the shot was off the rim. But just as it did all day, it got a putback to go back up one. It was Kyle Keith who got the putback with 10 seconds left.
Then, as North Summit went down to get the game winner, Landry Edwards took a charge to seal the game.
“They play hard,” Moosman said. “When you match up against a team, talent-wise, you feel like you’re pretty even, it comes down to those nitty-gritty plays. You got to have the extra possessions and diving on the floor, and our guys did that.”
Kanab 53, San Juan 50
When you shoot 66% from deep, you’re going to win a lot of games.
That’s what Monday’s quarterfinal between top-seeded Kanab and No. 9 San Juan ultimately came down to. The Cowboys generated a lot of open shots on the perimeter and it made them for a 53-50 win to advance to the 2A semis.
In total, Kanab shot 12 of 18 from three, including five in the first quarter alone.
“I was super happy with the boys,” said Kanab head coach Jerron Glazier. “They were ready to shoot it when they were open. I felt like we left a lot more of those on the table and that we had guys open. We just didn’t see them. But, super happy we advanced and have the opportunity to play tomorrow.”
Kanab looked like the clear favorite after the first quarter, especially after its shooting barrage. The defense also kept San Juan at bay and earned a 17-10 lead.
The Cowboys led the rest of the way, but the Broncos never let the game get out of their hands.
San Juan struggled with outside shooting, so it focused on getting downhill and to the rim. The size of Tripp Palmer also helped keep Kanab inefficient around the rim.
The lead would routinely be cut to under four, but then Kanab would respond with a 3-pointer. Still, the lead was only 47-44 after the third quarter.
“They’re big and physical. Hats off to San Juan,” Glazier said. “They are running a great program, they are big and strong and they overpowered us in a lot of ways. We knew that we had to give a little bit of that up because of their size, but I’m super proud of how the boys battled.”
The quarterfinal quickly shifted to an even more physical and defensive-heavy one in the fourth quarter. Offense was hard to come by, but Kanab still led by six late in the fourth.
A bucket with a foul from Palmer cut it to three, and then San Juan got the ball with 10 seconds left with a three-point deficit.
With the game on the line, Kanab forced a heavily contested 3-pointer and a miss to secure a spot in the semis. The Cowboys kept San Juan to just 9% shooting from distance.
“We were talking over defensive strategies and the team came to us and said, ‘We’re playing it this way,’” Glazier said. “I love the buy-in, love the faith, and anytime the team says, ‘Hey, coach, let’s do this way.” I’m going to say absolutely. That’s exactly what happened, and they did a really nice job."
The Cowboys finished with four players in double digits and four players with at least four assists. Kyle Brown led with 15 points, while Tyce Hill and Trey Castagno each had 12. Carson Visser also had 11.
Cole Duke was the leading scorer for San Juan with 16 points.
South Sevier 65, Rowland Hall 48
Much of Monday’s quarterfinal between South Sevier and Rowland Hall came down to the simple fact that nobody on the floor could stop Raidon Barney.
Rowland Hall struggled to handle the size of the 6-foot-8 Rams junior. Barney ended with a dominant 27-point, 12-rebound double-double in a convincing 65-48 quarterfinal win.
Whether it was on the perimeter or in the paint, Barney took advantage of mismatches.
“He’s so good with handling the ball, and he just creates mismatches everywhere he goes,” said South Sevier head coach Carson Christensen. “What I really love about him is he’s willing to find his players, his teammates, to get them open looks. They’re gonna send two guys every time, and he’s been so good at trying to find them. It just shows because he’s our leading assist guy as well.”
The Rams came out of the gate a little slow, which showed in a quick six-point lead for Rowland Hall in the first quarter.
Things quickly changed once South Sevier started to more handily win the rebounding battle and got Barney going.
“Rebounding was one thing we really hit on,” Christensen said. “The way Rowland Hall was going to beat us is they would have to outrebound us, and at the beginning, it was a little touch-and-go at first because they got four or five offensive putbacks down there.
“But, once they got that mentality that we’re going to rebound, that was the game changer right there.”
Once South Sevier started to pile on the points, Rowland Hall never recovered. Barney had a monster first half with 15 points and eight rebounds for a 33-18 lead.
The second half was much of the same. The Rams outscored the Winged Lions 22-12 in the third quarter and led by as much as 25 points.
The defense was also solid for South Sevier. Rowland Hall finally managed to put up an 18-point quarter in the fourth, but it was after the Rams sat some of their starters and the game was already put away.
Winged Lions leading scorer Jrue Miller was held to just eight points in the quarterfinal.
“Our defense was solid,” Christensen said. “We kept the Miller boys from scoring. It was from getting those rebounds and keeping them from getting the second chances.”