The Deseret News is covering 1A boys basketball quarterfinal action at Salt Lake Community College. This story will be updated.
Leading 49-47 with just under three seconds remaining in Thursday’s 1A boys quarterfinal, second seeded Wayne looked to be in control, but Green River had one last chance and the Pirates nearly pulled off the upset after a brilliant play call from coach Greg Parsons.
Inbounding under Wayne’s basket, the inbounder skipped the ball to the other side of the court. A still out-of-bounds Jason Hernandez caught the pass, reared back and found a sprinting Rolando Anguiano, who caught the pass, took several dribbles and fired a 3-point shot that would have given Green River the upset.
But the shot was short and just to the right as the Badgers improved to 21-6.
Wayne advances to Friday’s 1A semifinals, where it is slated to take on Bryce Valley at 8:30 p.m. on the Taylorsville campus of Salt Lake Community College.
Wayne looked every bit the higher seed early, racing out to a 27-15 lead at intermission. Green River clawed back into the game in the second half though, outsourcing the Badgers 17-12 in the third quarter and 15-10 in the fourth.
Hunter Robbins led Wayne with 18 points, 19 rebounds and three blocked shots, while Blake Peterson finished with 13 points, three rebounds and three assists. Tristin Martinez also reached double-figures, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Hernandez led Green River with 19 points and knocked down three of his six 3-point attempts. David Mendez added 12 points, two rebounds and two assists. Anguiano chipped in with eight points and six rebounds while Cristian Mendoza added six points, five rebounds and three assists.
Green River, 17-9, takes on Piute in consolation action at 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.
Leading 63-57 with 35 seconds in its 1A semifinal against Piute, Bryce Valley had to hold on for a 64-63 win.
Piute, behind a converted three-point play from Brodee Montague and a made 3-pointer from Gunner Eliason closed the gap to 64-63 with 13 seconds remaining.
After Bryce Valley missed a pair of free throws the Mustangs had to hold on in the final seconds as Montague’s shot at the buzzer drew rim before rolling out.
“When my teammate missed those last free throws I was like, ‘Oh, shoot,” Bryce Valley’s Clay Gray said. “When that last shot went up I had a lot of emotion and was both nervous and excited.”
Gray led Bryce Valley with 22 points but he had plenty of help from his teammates. Bryce Syrett notched 14 points while Gerardo Lopez finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
The two teams met during the regular season, a Piute win, and Mustangs coach Gary Syrett said his team did a much better job this time around.
“We defended a lot better today and we were way better on keeping them off the offensive glass,” he said. “We’ve matured a lot since that first game. I only have three seniors and a lot of this is understanding what you have to do in that type of game.”
Early on it was all Bryce Valley, as the Mustangs pushed tempo. Baskets from Rodolpho Perez, Gerardo Lopez and Gray opened an early 8-2 lead, forcing a timeout call from Piute.
The lead grew after another Perez basket before Piute answered with a made 3-pointer from Gunner Eliason that cut the lead to 10-5.
Bryce Valley kept the pressure on and earned its biggest lead of the quarter at 14-5 following hoops from Gray and a layup from Griffyn Roberts.
Piute got things rolling late in the period with back-to-back baskets from Blake Gleave but Bryce Valley led 14-9 after one quarter of play.
Gray, who finished the first half with 11 points, hit an early second-quarter 3-pointer to stretch the lead. Gleave hit another inside basket before the Mustangs opened a 19-11 lead after Gray muscled his way for a basket.
Piute got back into it with four consecutive points from Gleave and by intensifying the pressure. Trailing 24-17, Piute went on 8-0 run with a layup from Gage Eliason, which gave the Thunderbirds their first lead of the game, and the Mustangs led 29-26 at the half.
“I thought our kids played really well. We weren’t perfect but we told the kids they didn’t have to be,” coach Syrett said. “Piute is an excellent team, well coached and today we just had a few more things go our way.”
Gleave led Piute with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Gage Eliason finished with 14 points, while Gunner Eliason added 13.
Bryce Valley advances to Friday’s semifinals where they will take on Wayne at 8:30 p.m. on the campus of Salt Lake Community College.
Rich 66, Valley 54
When Rich and Valley met at Salt Lake Community College on Thursday, the result was one of those classic matchups where the box score fails to capture the story of the game.
The Rebels never lost a quarter on their way to a 66-54 victory but that fact hides the reality of what was for three quarters an incredibly competitive back and forth game.
The Rebels finished the first quarter leading by one point, they went into halftime with a two-point lead.
“Stay calm….I wasn’t surprised that we had some nerves, but I thought that we weren’t doing things to settle ourselves down, so that was the message. And sometimes you have to trust your guys and let the plays make themselves,” Rich coach Lex Cornia said of his message to his team at halftime of a competitive, gritty matchup.
One thing the box score shows accurately is the dominant performance of Ridge Lundgren. The senior who leads the Rebels in points per game dominated on offense to the tune of 35 points and five assists while making six of his 10 3-point attempts.
Lundgren also stood out on defense, where he took on the assignment of guarding Valley’s leading scorer Amar’e House (16.7 ppg).
Lundgren and his teammates consistently made House’s life difficult with physical smart defense, limiting him to 12 points on 4 of 12 shooting.
“I’ve coached for 20 years, he’s the best leader I’ve ever coached. Hands down. Everybody watches his offense, he’s so smooth and so skilled, but I think his defense is really where he shines. We can ask him to guard their best player and then we can ask him to be our leading scorer. There aren’t many 18-year-old kids who are up to that, especially every night,” Cornia said of Lundgren’s impact on his team this season.
Lundgren’s defense showed up big in the fourth quarter on two key occasions.
After Valley fought to cut into the Rich lead, House stole the ball from Rich breaking away for what could have been a layup that would’ve cut the lead to six. However right there running alongside him was Lundgren, who flashed for a huge block to return possession to Rich.
Two possessions later, Lundgren iced the game with a dagger 3-pointer from the corner with 1:18 left to put the Rebels up 12.
“My mindset is always to make him think about it, take him out of his rhythm. It’s not always about stopping the play because good offensive players are going to get their points. The goal is just to keep him out of his rhythm and make him a little bit uncomfortable,” Lundgren said of his mindset on defense guarding the other team’s best player.
Panguitch 48, Manila 31
When defending 1A champion Panguitch defeated Manila 48-31 on Thursday at Salt Lake Community College, it was a battle of opposing philosophies: Manila’s fast-paced aggressive offense taking on the patient methodical offensive approach of the Bobcats.
After an extremely competitive first quarter, it became clear that the key to the game would be defense, as the teams scored a combined 14 points in the first quarter. Disciplined play, smart timeouts and well-executed double teams made it difficult for both teams to get going offensively.
The defensive struggle continued into the second half as Manila entered the locker room with a 21-19 lead over the defending state champions.
“We knew they were going to sag in and focus on doubling our center (Trenton Virga), so we had to drill into our perimeter guys that they were going to have to make shots,” Panguitch coach Clint Barney said of his adjustments at halftime.
The Bobcats responded to that coaching point by doing just that.
Senior Camden Englestead exploded out of the half, knocking down two quick 3s and scoring eight points in the first three minutes of the second half to erase the halftime deficit and build a lead for Panguitch.
Englestead’s hot shooting led the Panguitch offense as he finished with 14 points and four 3-pointers.
“They can’t shoot the ball afraid. ... They needed to take good shots and I thought Camden (Engelstead) came out and hit two or three 3s in the quarter and played really well,” Barney said.
Another key player for the Bobcats was Trenton Virga. The 6-foot-7 senior led the Bobcats defense with seven rebounds and seven blocks, completely erasing the paint and limiting Manila to 10 points in the paint throughout the game.
“What you saw today is what he’s done all year for us … having Trenton in the middle allows us to be more aggressive getting out to shooters on the perimeter. He rebounds well and if he doesn’t block a shot, he’s always affecting it,” Barney said of Virga’s impact defensively.
After a dominant third quarter where it outscored Manila 17-2, Panguitch ramped up its already patient offensive approach, using all of the shot clock on multiple possessions to erase as much time as possible, stifling any potential comeback attempt.
Manila’s leading scorers, Teague Goodman and Kale Chowning, put on a valiant effort, each scoring 12 points, with Chowning playing the entire game as the Mustangs fell short 48-31.