Alta gets a big win over Bingham

SANDY -- Round 2 goes to the Alta Hawks.

After dropping a nine-point decision to the Bingham Miners nearly five weeks ago, the Hawks bounced back and took the second game of the projected three-game set with a 68-62 victory over the Miners Tuesday.

Round 3?

Bingham coach John Bosco and Alta coach Dave Pimm agree the rematch could come Saturday, March 8 in the Class 5A state championship game at Weber State University.

"I think they (the Miners) will be in the state championship game," Pimm said. "If we can get our work done we'll play them again - - we hope."

Senior standout Josh Olsen drilled six three-pointers en route to a game-high 29 points in leading the Hawks to the six-point win.

"LeBron James II took over. I like watching him," Bosco said of Olsen's play. He also labeled Olsen the "Bingham Killer" because in his last two games against the Miners (one of which was an Alta loss) he is averaging 29 points and six three-pointers.

Olsen shot just 3-for-9 in the first half, but his jumper with 3:40 left in the second quarter increased the Hawks' lead to 12 at 24- 12. The Hawks maintained the 12-point lead (28-16) at the half.

In the second half, Olsen, who has signed to play at the University of Utah. was on fire. He shot 6-of-8 from the field and nailed four three-pointers for 21 second-half points.

"He was the man, wasn't he?" Pimm said. "One time down the floor I told everybody to get him the ball. Anytime someone is in the zone like that, keep feeding him. We ran five or six set plays right at Josh and he got the job done."

With his team leading by just eight points heading in the final quarter, Olsen drained three three-pointers in a two-minute stretch as the Hawks increased the lead to 13 points.

"I love getting assists of him (Olsen)," said point guard Danny Reeder, who finished with 12 points and a half-dozen assists. "We've been playing together since seventh grade. He knows what I'm going to do and I know what he's going to do and where he's going to be."

Bingham's Blair Prowse single-handedly kept the Miners close by scoring 18 of his team-high 24 points in the second half.

The Hawks led by double-digits for most of the second half, but the Miners, on two occasions, cut the lead to six points, but couldn't get any closer.

Since taking over the Class 5A No. 1 spot Jan. 28, one by one, teams from Region 2 have been taking their shots at No. 1 Alta, and one by one the Hawks have been sending them home losers. They have disposed of Copper Hills, Riverton (the team that beat then No. 1 Bingham by 17 points), West Jordan, Brighton and now Bingham (8-2, 15- 2).

With four games remaining in the Region 2 slate, the Hawks (9-1, 15-2) hold a one-game lead over the Miners. Riverton and Jordan are three games back at 6-4 and both can close the gap as they both have shots at Alta in the next two weeks.

At first, the gym looked bare Tuesday night, but six minutes before game time, the Alta studentbody poured in all together, filling the gym to near capacity, and began their chanting.

With that energy, the Hawks took control of the game defensively from the onset.

The Miners entered the game as the classification's top scoring team (64.9 points a game), but the Hawks held them to just 16 first- half points.

"We were very timid in the first half," Bosco said. "I don't understand. We just didn't miss shots, we missed them bad."

The Miners hit just 8-of-26 shots in the first 16 minutes while the Hawks shot 50 percent (12-of-24).

"It'll be a good lesson for us in big games -- the way we played in the first half," Bosco said.

Bingham produced a 17-point third quarter and a 29-point fourth, but Hawks' first half lead was too much to overcome.

Behind Olsen and Reeder, Geoff Payne finished with 13 points in the paint for the Hawks.

Danny Stosich was the only other Bingham player in double figures with 12.

In other boys games Tuesday:

BOYS' GAMES

REGION 1

DAVIS 55, FREMONT 45: Rand Sargent scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Darts rallied from a 12-point deficit to win a key Region 1 contest.

VIEWMONT 54, WEBER 37: Brickton Flammer scored 16 points and Brandon Homer added 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Vikings.

LAYTON 65, CLEARFIELD 59: Nate Grondel scored 20 points and Brody Flint added 17 to lead the Lancers.

REGION 2

RIVERTON 65, COPPER HILLS 48: Nick Booth tallied 17 points, while Jason Ford chipped in with 17 to lead the Silverwolves, who outscored the Grizzlies 25-8 in the final quarter. Garrett Sandberg led Copper Hills with 18 points in the loss.

BRIGHTON 65, HILLCREST 44: Carter Nielson scored 17 points and Braydon Bell added 16 to give the Bengals the region win.

WEST JORDAN 60, JORDAN 58: Ryan Pando made two free throws with five seconds left to give the Jaguars the upset win over the Beetdiggers. Pando led West Jordan with 14 points and Jared True scored a game-high 20 points for Jordan.

REGION 5

CYPRUS 71, EAST 48: The Pirates' Rawley Loutensock poured in 24 points, and Kyle Huntsman finished with 17 points while connecting on all eight of his free throw attempts as Cyprus rolled past East.

WEST 70, MURRAY 63: Tanner Nicholson scored 20 to lead three West double-figure scorers as the Panthers improved to 5-6 in Region 5 and 9-8 overall.

OLYMPUS 79, BOUNTIFUL 65: Shaun Green scored 24 of his 26 points in the first half as the Titans rolled past the Braves.

HIGHLAND 60, WOODS CROSS 44: Eric Daniels netted 14 points, and the Rams outscored the Wildcats 21-6 in the third quarter to cruise to the win and improve to 7-4 in Region 5.

REGION 6

PROVO 81, SPRINGVILLE 46: Joe Pututau's 19 points and five steals paced Provo to an easy win over the Region 6 cellar dwelling Red Devils.

REGION 7

TIMPANOGOS 48, LONE PEAK 37: Mike Weitzell scored 17 to help the Timberwolves improve to 4-1 in Region 7.

PLEASANT GROVE 40, OREM 35: The Tigers were 0-for-12 from the field in the third quarter as the Vikings pulled out the win to move to 2-3 in Region 7. Landon Hallman's 17 points led Pleasant Grove.

3A PLAYOFFS

CARBON 60, DELTA 47: Joe Moynier, Neal Maynes and Brandon Menzaneres all scored in double figures as the Dinos beat the Rabbits in a 3A Tournament play-in game.

REGION 10

PARK CITY 62, GRANITE 53: The Miners hit 30 of 41 free throws on the way to only their second Region 10 win.

JUDGE MEMORIAL 54, UINTAH 38: The Bulldogs outscored the Utes in every quarter but one to push their Region 10 mark to 8-2. Michael Giovacchini's 20 led Judge.

WASATCH 63, UNION 61: Josh Cottle scored 20 points as the Wasps improved to 9-1 in Region 10.

REGION 13

PAROWAN 48, BEAVER 47: Ryan Tripp's jumper with 14 seconds left propelled the Rams past the Beavers. Parowan improved to 17-2 overall with the win.

KANAB 63, ENTERPRISE 59 (OT): Mace Glazier's 21 points paced the Cowboys to improve their Region 13 record to 5-4.

REGION 15

VALLEY 75, WAYNE 62: Owen Hoyt poured in a game-high 28 points as the visiting Buffaloes held off the Badgers to improve to 12-0 in Region 15.

PIUTE 90, PANGUITCH 52: Niels Hendrickson's 31 points led all scorers and led the Thunderbirds to the easy victory.

REGION 16 N.

TABIONA 64, UINTAH RIVER 40: The Tigers improved to 7-1 in Region 16 North as the Warriors fell to an 0-10 region mark. Riley Bagley led Tabiona with 22 points.

MANILA 77, ALTAMONT 63: Zach Schofield's double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds paced the Mustangs.

REGION 18

TINTIC 74, EAST CARBON 46: Ten different Miners scored as they used a balanced offensive game plan to roll past the Vikings.

DUGWAY 65, MERIDIAN 49: Nick Wall and Cory Rose combined for 30 points to lead the Mustangs to the region win.

NONREGION

MILFORD 86, ESCALANTE 62: The Tigers had their highest scoring game of the season and defeated the Moquis for the second time this season.

OGDEN 64, NORTH SANPETE 51: The Tigers outscored the Hawks 34-22 in the second half to earn the nonregion victory. Trent Dykster racked up 26 points to lead Ogden.

BEN LOMOND 67, EMERY 60: Joel Young's 23 points paced the Scots to a non-region win over the Spartans.

KEMMER, WYO. 62, MORGAN 54: Zach Randall scored 13 points but it wasn't enough to lead the Trojans to a win.

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