It has been a very long time coming, but after coming up short a year ago, South Sevier has finally reached the mountaintop once again, defeating South Summit handily 58-44.
South Sevier was once again led by Raidon Barney, who put together another dominant game when it mattered most. Barney managed to score 21 points on 8-15 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds.
“It’s just been a heck of a ride. These boys really bought in. Last year we made in here and ended up on the short end and it certainly feels good to be on the right side. This community is awesome,” said South Sevier head coach Carson Christensen.
“They have our back in all of this and I’m just happy that they’re here to support. I got a lot of ex-players here coming, giving me hugs, which is fun. This is awesome and I couldn’t be happier for this group of boys right here.”
South Sevier was in control from the opening tip and never let up. They held South Summit to just two points in the first quarter while putting up 11 points of their own, setting the tone for how the rest of the game would play out.
“We really wanted to come out and start fast, that’s what we were saying coming in. We can just knock them on their heels and hopefully we can keep that leas. Big credit goes to the defense. It was all defense. They bought in, they played hard and they’re just awesome kids,” added Christensen.
Barney and the rest of his teammates were very much onboard with that game plan, never really allowing South Summit to believe they were in the game.
“We want to come out and we want to punch first 100% of the time. We want to make it to where they don’t even want to play and are wanting to quit by halftime. That’s kind of the goal every time,” said Barney.
The South Sevier offense was steady from beginning to end, shooting 45% from the field in the first half and continued to add the pressure in the second half by shooting 68% in the second half.
“This means a lot. I mean, we’ve worked all season for this. We have they majority of guys coming back next year but it also sucks to see some of the guys leave. Last year we lost to Kanab and that really sucked. This year we were all just in it together. We played as a team and our defense was incredible,” added Barney.
Christensen said that if he had to zero in on one or two things that happened throughout the season that got his team here, it would have to be how close and tight they have gotten.
“The friendships and the teammates that they are is incredible. They built this bond, this brotherhood, and just rolled with it and trusted each other. They just grew so much this season from start to end and it’s just great to see that.”