High school boys basketball: Team effort helps Rich end frustration in 1A title game

The Rich boys basketball team’s drive for the state title has been going on for three years. It has been a long, frustrating battle to lose in the championship games in 2024 and 2025.

Friday night’s matchup against Bryce Valley wasn’t so much about defeating the opponent as much as it was about lifting the spirit of the team and the community.

Senior Ridge Lundgren was ready to put that responsibility on his shoulders, but he got a lot of help as the Rebels thrilled their fans who made the trip to the Salt Lake valley.

Lundgren scored 21 points and Jett Holmes and Carter Scott added 17 each as Rich beat the Mustangs 69-56 for its first crown since 2015.

The win was also sweet for coach Lex Cornia, who graduated from Rich and served as a team manager since he was “old enough to walk into the gym.” Cornia later coached at Evanston (Wyo.) and returned to his alma mater in 2020 and finally attained his goal.

“It may not be as big of a state as the bigger schools but it means the same to us,” he said. “It doesn’t feel any better than this. I’m proud of the kids for everything that they’ve had to go through the last few years. It’s great to get this done.”

Photo Gallery: 1 of 34

1 of 34

Photo Gallery: 2 of 34

2 of 34

Photo Gallery: 3 of 34

3 of 34

Photo Gallery: 4 of 34

4 of 34

Photo Gallery: 5 of 34

5 of 34

Photo Gallery: 6 of 34

6 of 34

Photo Gallery: 7 of 34

7 of 34

Photo Gallery: 8 of 34

8 of 34

Photo Gallery: 9 of 34

9 of 34

Photo Gallery: 10 of 34

10 of 34

Photo Gallery: 11 of 34

11 of 34

Photo Gallery: 12 of 34

12 of 34

Photo Gallery: 13 of 34

13 of 34

Photo Gallery: 14 of 34

14 of 34

Photo Gallery: 15 of 34

15 of 34

Photo Gallery: 16 of 34

16 of 34

Photo Gallery: 17 of 34

17 of 34

Photo Gallery: 18 of 34

18 of 34

Photo Gallery: 19 of 34

19 of 34

Photo Gallery: 20 of 34

20 of 34

Photo Gallery: 21 of 34

21 of 34

Photo Gallery: 22 of 34

22 of 34

Photo Gallery: 23 of 34

23 of 34

Photo Gallery: 24 of 34

24 of 34

Photo Gallery: 25 of 34

25 of 34

Photo Gallery: 26 of 34

26 of 34

Photo Gallery: 27 of 34

27 of 34

Photo Gallery: 28 of 34

28 of 34

Photo Gallery: 29 of 34

29 of 34

Photo Gallery: 30 of 34

30 of 34

Photo Gallery: 31 of 34

31 of 34

Photo Gallery: 32 of 34

32 of 34

Photo Gallery: 33 of 34

33 of 34

Photo Gallery: 34 of 34

34 of 34

Rich was the top seed last year, but one of its top players – Daniel Smith – died unexpectedly shortly before the tourney. The team dedicated its season to him and won three straight games but fell to Panguitch in the finale.

This season couldn’t come fast enough, and the Rebels finally made it right. After beating Valley and then avenging their frustration in the semifinals against Panguitch, the Rebels jumped on Bryce Valley quickly Saturday.

“This was a great night,” said Lundgren, who made 9 of 17 shots, including a fast break layup on the opening tip to give Rich a lead it never relinquished.

“It’s not all about me. I have great teammates and they all played a big role in what we’ve done this year.”

Rich unleashed its fast-breaking offense and built the lead to 10 points early. The most-pivotal point of the contest, however, occurred just before halftime.

A 3-pointer by Rustyn Chynoweth with 21 seconds left gave the Mustangs some momentum, but Rich set up a play and put the ball in Lundgren’s hands.

The team’s top scorer (20.5 ppg) and assists leader, Lundgren couldn’t find a hole in the defense to drive to the basket, so he lofted a high, arcing 3-pointer that dropped through the net.

All of his teammates then hustled downcourt to play defense, except for Paxton Nicolodemos, who had just entered the game.

Nicolodemos saw an opportunity to steal the inbounds pass, then dribbled to the perimeter and fired a 20-footer as the buzzer sounded to give Rich a seemingly insurmountable 44-28 lead.

“That was a huge play,” Cornia said. “The kids were on such a huge high as we went to the locker room. It took us a long while to calm down.”

Said Bryce Valley coach Gary Syrett: “There were times when we played well enough to win. They are so fast, but we played right with them and made some great plays. We seemed to go from six points down to 16 right before halftime and that hurt.”

Syrett’s halftime pep talk must have worked because the Mustangs showed signs of being the “Cinderella” type of squad that upset Piute and Wayne to reach the final.

Chynoweth (17 points) and Brace Syrett (14 points) made their share of impressive plays, and a Clay Gray 3-point play the old-fashioned way made the score 54-48 with 5:30 left.

Rich responded, however, with a pair of 3-pointers by Holmes — who made 5 of 8 attempts from behind the stripe — and Lundgren added another trey to start the Rebels’ long-awaited celebration.