Skyline 64, Olympus 62
The defending 5A state champion had won 18 straight heading into its home opener with rival Skyline on Tuesday night, but that winning streak has come to an end.
The Titans fought back from a nine-point halftime deficit and even took a nine-point lead of their own late in the game, but the Eagles made the necessary plays to secure a 64-62 road win.
Skyline got big games from seniors Georgio Golesis (22 points) and Peter Broadbent (18 points) to push them to the win. Olympus junior Dutch DowDell led all scorers with 23 points. The result handed Olympus its second loss of the year and paved the way for Skyline to step things up atop the Region 6 standings as both the Titans and Eagles are now 7-1 in region play.
The win shows the recent trajectory of the Eagles, who were beaten by Olympus by 33 points more than three weeks ago. Since the loss, Skyline has yet to lose a game.
“(Olympus) is healthy and talented and extremely well coached (and) obviously coach Barnes is as great a coach as there is in our state. I just thought our guys hung in there and stayed together when the game got tough. We love the fight our guys are putting up. … We haven’t arrived — I want to be really clear about that — but to beat a team like (Olympus) on their floor is a big step for us,” Skyline coach Marcus Frazier said.
Farmington 70, Davis 59
Farmington suffered a home loss to rival Davis just over three weeks ago, but had to repay the favor on Tuesday. Despite trailing by 11 points at the halftime break, the Phoenix responded with a terrific second half to run away with a 70-59 victory.
Farmington outscored Davis 50-28 in the second half, including a 28-11 advantage in the third quarter. Farmington’s Jaden Haskell (game-high 23 points) and Brayden Larsen (15 points) got hot in the third period, helping Phoenix come back and take control of the game.
Down the stretch, Paul Beatty scored key shots for the Phoenix, helping them see out the win. Also working in Farmington’s case were his stellar 15-for-17 (88%) free throw shooting and seven-for-eight (87%) 3-point shooting in the second half. Farmington improved to 12-6 on the season and 4-4 in what was a tough and balanced Region 1 this year.
“We struggled to make shots in the first half and didn’t execute our game plan defensively, but we just talked about easier plays in the second half and got fired up at the right time. Davis is so solid defensively and shoots the 3 so well and we did a good job of taking that away in the second half,” Farmington coach Casey Walkenhurst said.
Cyprus 60, Roy 52
The Cypriot Pirates entered Tuesday with an unblemished 7-0 record in Region 2 play, but perhaps their toughest challenge in the region came three weeks prior when they faced Roy on the road.
Like the game 21 days ago, the second-ranked Pirates in 6A received a challenge from the Royals, but managed to finish on top with a score of 60-52. Cyprus used a 22-15 scoring advantage in the third quarter to pull away from Roy.
The teams were back-to-back for the remaining three quarters as the Pirates outscored the Royals by just one point combined over those three quarters. As he has all season, senior Quentin Meza delivered for the Pirates, scoring a game-high 29 points – his fifth time eclipsing the 29-point mark this season.
Cyprus secured a three-game lead in the regional standings, improving to 8-0 in Region 2 and 17-3 overall.
“Our guys battled and earned a tough regional win tonight. It’s good for this group to have those tough regional games. This will help us in the long run. We have to learn to make all the steps and get the stops when we need them, and tonight we did that,” Kiper coach Tre Smith said.
Cedar Valley 55, Tooele 51
Cedar Valley was given a surprise test Tuesday night when the 13-5 Aviators hit the road to face winless Tooele. Trailing by four late in the third period, Cedar Valley erased the deficit to force overtime, where it outscored the Buffaloes 9-5 for a 55-51 victory.
With the exception of the two losses to region leader Cottonwood, the test was perhaps the toughest challenge the fifth-ranked Aviators have faced in their Region 7 campaign. The Aviators received some fortune in the form of Tooele’s penalty shootout (7 -for-16 from the line) as the Buffaloes shot just 43% from the line.
Cedar Valley struggled to contain Tooele senior Jacob Hansen, who scored a game-high 20 points on five 3-pointers. Senior Kevin Cota filled the stat sheet for the Aviators, recording 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
The game proved to be a great learning opportunity for the Aviators, who are looking to potentially enter the 5A tournament as a top-five seed.
“Hats off to Tooele tonight. They came out with a lot of energy and hit a lot of hard shots. We struggled to get our game going offensively, but we found a way to make enough plays throughout the period to win,” Cedar Valley coach Blake Pugmire said.