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Pleasant Grove's senior guard Brady Thurgood had only one rebound and one basket in the fourth quarter of Friday night's game at home against Spanish Fork.
Unfortunately for Dons, it was at the buzzer and the game-winner that sealed the 77-75 victory for the Vikings.
In a game that didn't see its first lead change until the fourth quarter, Spanish Fork senior guard Matt Gardner hit 3-point shot to tie the game at 75 with six seconds remaining.
Viking junior guard LeSean Wilcox ran the entire length of the court and offered his cousin junior guard C.J. Wilcox a shot for the win. C.J., with the majority of the Spanish Fork defenders smothering him, offered a off-balanced shot that just missed it mark.
As the ball came off the rim, Thurgood found just enough of the rebound to tip it in as the buzzer sounded.
The contest began with Spanish Fork (0-1, 8-4) sprinting out of the gates with a fast-tempo game plan to counter the full-court press applied early by Pleasant Grove (1-0, 11-1).
Fast break points accounted for the majority of Spanish Fork's 44-32 lead at the half, and PG looked as if they were doomed to another half of chasing the Dons.
"I thought our defense was pretty poor," said P.G. coach Randy McAllister. "You have to give Spanish Fork credit, I think they made us look bad on defense. They were just phenomenal. We were just a step slow and a step late, so we made some adjustments at halftime and we challenged our players to step up for the second half."
After being held to just three points in the first half, C.J. Wilcox responded after the break and finished with 27 points. He led the second half Viking charge which saw them rally to tie with six minutes left in the fourth. An uncontested lay-up by LeSean Wilcox gave the Vikings their first lead with four minutes to play.
Both teams played sloppy in the final stretch, but a dunk off by C.J. set up the final exciting seconds
Gardner led the Dons with 22 points including three 3-pointers in the close Spanish Fork loss.
SPANISH FORK (77)
Gardner 22, Clayton 15, Nelson 12, Vergara 12, Naulu 9, Lewis 3, Catmull 2. Totals 27 11-15 75
PLEASANT GROVE (75)
C.J. Wilcox 27, Thurgood 12, L. Wilcox 10, Tucker 9, Schleitwiler 5, Allridge 4, A. Nielson 4, Adamson 4, Tanoai 2. Totals 28 14-21 77.
Spanish Fork 20 24 19 12 -- 75
Pleasant Grove 17 15 25 20 -- 77
3-point goals: Spanish Fork 6 (Gardner 3, Clayton 2, Naulu), Pleasant Grove 7 (CJ Wilcox 3, L. Wilcox, Schleitwiler, Allridge, Adamson).
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