Here’s a recap of the 5A boys basketball quarterfinal games at the University of Utah on Monday afternoon, with No. 12 Pleasant Grove, No. 8 Bountiful, No. 2 Olympus and No. 3 Highland all winning to advance to Thursday’s semifinals.
Highland 62, Woods Cross 48
Highland and Woods Cross split their region series this year, with both home teams winning by identical 64-48 scores.
Knowing that, Monday’s 5A quarterfinal grudge match at the University of Utah could’ve realistically gone either way.
Highland’s experience in past big games at the University of Utah helped pave the way for an almost identical victory over Woods Cross on Monday, as the Rams prevailed for the 62-48 victory.
The Rams were shorthanded a couple of sick players in that Feb. 3 loss — which cost them a share of the Region 6 title — and they were motivated to make amends.
“Coach texted us before the game, ‘check your gut,’ because he wants us to remember how it felt losing that game. Cost us our region title,” said Highland big man Soren Ries. “So we just came in and we wanted to step on them immediately. And I think that’s what helped us here. We had energy straight out the gate.”
For this Highland’s seniors, Monday’s game was their sixth in the Huntsman Center in the past three years and that comfort level was obvious as five different players score in double figures.
Jordan Oberholtzer led the way with 15 points, followed by Grady Lee with 14. Bodie Doge, Ries and Isaiah Drisom also scored in double figures.
“We have a lot of guys that played a lot of games in this building, and they’re confident. We just did what we had to do. Didn’t play perfect, didn’t play great, or didn’t play terrible, just played good,” said Highland coach Chris Jones.
All five have scored in double figures this season, a big reason Highland went 21-3 during the regular season and earned the No. 3 seed in the 5A state tournament.
“Anyone of those starters could go average 20-plus somewhere on a team and maybe not win. But they’ve sacrificed for each other. They like each other. They care about each other. And they’re OK with some nights it’s this guy, some nights it’s this guy. So it’s just cool to watch them do it all together,” said Jones.
With the win, Highland advances to the 5A semifinals on Thursday at 5:40 p.m. in the much-anticipated showdown with Olympus.
In each of the past three seasons, the rivals split the season series, but the Titans won on the big stage at the Huntsman Center — once in the semifinals and last year in a dominant 29-point win in the championship.
Ries said that a similar shared offensive and defensive output against Olympus in the semis will be key to getting over the hump.
“That’s what the difference was the first game when we lost at home (to Olympus). We didn’t play together. So once that happens, I think everything will take care of itself,” said Ries.
In just 15 minutes on the floor because of foul trouble against Woods Cross, Ries finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Highland led 13-9 after the first quarter and then 30-22 at the half. Woods Cross’ opened the second half with a 3-pointer from Bryson Watson to cut the lead to 30-25. That was close as the Wildcats would get as Highland methodically pulled away from there.
Olympus 67, Springville 57
There’s something about playing in the Huntsman Center that brings out the best in Olympus standout guard Gavin Lowe.
His Titans were down 10 points at the half to No. 7 Springville in Monday’s quarterfinals, but Lowe absolutely took over the game from there, scoring 28 of his 40 points in the second half, including 21 of Oly’s 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Titans rolled to the 67-57 win.
“He’s unbelievable. He just has so much toughness and so much competitiveness, and it’s been for four years. I mean, he just refuses to lose. He’s got unbelievable confidence. And he just knows when the big moment is,” said Olympus coach Matt Barnes.
Every game at the Huntsman Center is make or break, and Lowe has risen to the occasion every time. Combined with last year’s three playoff games during Olympus’ championship run, Lowe is now averaging 32 points in four games at the Huntsman Center.
He’ll get another chance to shine at the U. on Thursday in the 5A semifinals against the winner of the Highland-Woods Cross game at 5:40 p.m.
Even though Olympus was down at the half, Lowe said there was no panic in the locker room at the half.
“I thought it was an energetic locker room. Everyone was hyped. Everyone knew that this isn’t where the story ends,” said Lowe.
Barnes told his team they were standing around too much, trying to play 1-on-1.
“That’s not our game. So the second half, I mean we had to put Jamyn (Sondrup) in the on-ball screens as much as we could and play off of that, make them come out and guard,” said Barnes.
It didn’t take Olympus long to erase the 10-point deficit as Lowe, Caden Jackson and Adam Bywter all hit 3-pointers to cut the 31-21 deficit to 36-36 midway through the third quarter.
Davian Lazarus scored seven of his 12 points in the third quarter, as Olympus took a 43-42 leading into the fourth.
Lowe took over from there. He scored 10 of Olympus’ 12 points during a 12-0 run to start the quarter, pushing the lead to 55-42.
“In the second half, I just tried to let the game come to me. I didn’t want to force shots. I just want to make plays, get the shots that I like and take them and live with the result. And so that’s what I did. I mean, everything that came to me is what I liked,” said Lowe.
He hit back-to-back deep 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter that pushed the lead to 51-42.
Olympus pushed the lead to as many as 13 points with six minutes remaining. Springville cut it to eight points on three different occasions, but Olympus hit free throws and protected the ball to secure the win.
“Obviously Gavin was terrific, but it all started with the defense. And we got stops and we got some baskets, put the press on a little bit, that kind of got us moving and going a little bit, and then just kind of snowballed from there,” said Barnes.
Bountiful 58, Alta 44
Alta had Bountiful’s full attention ahead of Monday’s 5A quarterfinals.
It didn’t matter that Bountiful beat Alta comfortably twice in region play. The reality was that No. 17 seed Alta came into the quarterfinals beaming with confidence after stunning top seed and heavy favorite Timpview the round prior.
Any team that beats the tournament favorite four rounds before the final can’t be overlooked.
Sure enough, Bountiful locked in Monday afternoon at the University of Utah and shut down Alta defensively on its way to the 58-44 victory to advance to Thursday’s semifinal against Pleasant Grove at 4 p.m.
“It didn’t really change our mentality because we just want to play hard and win. I mean, it probably changed the game plan as we obviously thought Timpview would win,” said Bountiful’s Lincoln Smith, who made 5 of 6 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 23 points.
He said Alta’s defensive game plan was much better than the previous two match-ups, a big reason Bountiful only led 28-26 at the half.
In the second half, though, the Redhawks methodically pulled away to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2018.
Davey Howe added 16 points for Bountiful, while Wyatt Crane added 11.
Bountiful looked very comfortable shooting at the Huntsman Center, finishing 54 percent from the field compared to 41 percent for Alta.
“We’ve told them defense travels. We’ve been playing impressive defense for the last month or so. We’ve had shots at Highland, Olympus just haven’t come through, but defense travels. And then you have shooters that put in the net—it makes coaching a whole lot easier,” said first-year Bountiful head coach Brett Hewlett.
The biggest thing Hewlett though his team did well on Monday was just the “next-play mentality.”
“So whether it’s a turnover, they hit a big three, we hit a big three—keep our composure and move on to the next play, and one play at a time. It’s kind of how you have to take it at tournaments,” said Hewlett.
He stressed that it didn’t matter if Bountiful was playing Alta or Timpview.
“Anything can happen in this tournament, so you don’t know if it’s your day or someone else’s day. And come out, make the plays, and we told them just compete for 32 minutes,” said Hewlett, who spent the previous 11 years as an assistant coach at Bountiful before taking over as head coach this year.
In fact, Hewlett played on the Bountiful state championship team in 1997. His team is now two wins away from the school’s first state championship since 2015.
If Smith keeps shooting the way he did on the quarterfinals Bountiful has a great shot against Pleasant Grove.
“ He’s been doing it all season long. He’s a stud. You want to talk about a kid that puts in the work, that’s Lincoln Smith. And we’ve got five or six of them on there that just love the work. They compete, they’re gym rats,” said Hewlett.
Pleasant Grove 66, Wasatch 58
Regardless of how the rest of the 5A state tournament unfolds, Pleasant Grove’s stunning 66-58 quarterfinal victory over Wasatch on Monday will be talked about for years and years.
Trailing by 14 points after three, the Vikings scored 23 straight points to open the fourth quarter in a remarkable turnaround in a game the Wasps seemed firmly in control of.
“I’m 29 years old, they’re trying to age me at about double the rate right now,” joked Pleasant Grove coach Carsen Williams after the game. “They’re not doing me any favors there.”
Wasatch’s first points of the fourth quarter came on a pair of technical free throws with only 47 seconds remaining, but the fourth-seeded Wasps still trailed No. 12 seed Pleasant Grove 61-54.
About that 23-0 run, Williams said, “I’d love to know if that’s a record of the state tournament up here.”
“These guys, they’re hungry and they’re still not satisfied. We understand how hard it is to win. We’ll see a great team on Thursday. We’re just so excited to spend a couple more days together and try to go win a game on Thursday.”
Pleasant Grove next faces No. 8 Bountiful at 4 p.m. in the 5A semifinals on Thursday.
Incredibly, the Vikings’ 14-point rally in the fourth quarter was their second double-digit comeback of the game.
Wasatch race to a 21-4 lead after the first quarter, but just when it looked like Pleasant Grove might get run out of the Huntsman Center, it responded and cut the deficit to 32-28 by halftime.
The momentum didn’t carry over to the third quarter. Wasatch stormed back in front with a 20-10 quarter to take a 14-point lead into the fourth.
Williams acknowledged that his team spent so much physical and mental energy to climb back into the game by halftime, there was an inevitable let down in the third.
“It takes so much focus to play winning basketball. And we forgot that for a second. I think fatigue played a role in that,” said Williams.
In the fourth quarter, everything just snowballed, and very quickly.
Pleasant Grove made six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, two by Ashton Palmer, two by Preston White and one each by Jaxon Brown and Brennan Blackett. Palmer’s 3-pointer tied the game at 52-52 with 5:35 still remaining.
A pair of free throws by Preston White gave Pleasant Grove the lead for good at the 4:58 mark. His team didn’t let up either, pushing the lead to as many as nine points before Wasatch finally ended the seven-plus minute scoring drought.
Pleasant Grove made five 3-pointers in that fourth quarter, which allowed it to press and speed up Wasatch defensively. That was really the catalyst to the unlikely comeback.
“We pride ourselves on being the best defensive team in 5A. We believe that. When we do that and we show it we’re really, really good,” said Williams. “And there’s times where we didn’t do that tonight, credit to Wasatch who did an awesome job.”
For Pleasant Grove, in the two quarters it was forced to chase, it outscored Wasatch 52-17. In the other two quarters it was flat, the Wasps had a 41-17 edge. A bit more consistency from the Vikings will be key in the semifinals.
Blackett finished with a game high 15 points for Pleasant Grove, while Milo Johansson added 12 points, Brown 11 and White 10.
Wasatch’s Caleb Baich led Wasatch with 21 points in the loss.