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No matter who you were rooting for in Friday night's battle of the boys hoops heavyweights at Pleasant Grove, there was general agreement on one thing.
In high school basketball, it doesn't get any better.
The Knights and the Vikings put on an incredible show in front of a packed house for four full quarters, but Lone Peak pulled away in the final four minutes for an 83-74 victory.
"That was one heck of a ball game," said visiting coach Quincy Lewis. "I thought the game we played here last year was a little sloppy, but this time, both teams played very well."
The Knights owned a six-point lead with 5:49 to play, but the Vikings took a time out and came back to make one final run.
Jared Allridge, who provided a spark off the bench for the home team, reduced the gap with a pair of free throws on a 1-and-1. Lone Peak answered that score with a cross-court pass from Justin Hamilton to Bracken Funk inside for an easy deuce.
Craig Tucker came right back with a pull-up trey to make it 69-66. The next two Knight possessions ended in steals by Tucker and Brady Thurgood, and Pleasant Grove capitalized on the second one when CJ Wilcox sank a pair of charity shots to pull his team within 69-68.
That was as close as it got, however. Haws hit two free throws, then Kimball Payne stole the ball and Funk got a putback to stretch the margin to five again in the next minute, and the Knights rolled on to the win from there.
"Give Pleasant Grove credit," Lewis said. "They had a good plan of attack. They got looks from inside and outside. They were just outstanding, and we were pretty good. I'd say the crowd here got its money's worth."
Viking coach Randy McAllister said, "We did enough to make it competitive, but not quite enough to win."
A highlight was surely the match-up between two of the state's best players, who are good friends and play together in the off-season.
Tyler Haws shot the lights out all night, finishing with 27 points on 67 percent from the field, 75 percent from beyond the arc and 80 percent from the free-throw line.
His Pleasant Grove counterpart was equally sensational, as CJ Wilcox tallied 30 points with eight rebounds as the two engaged in a duel of basketball skill and smarts.
They got some good help from their teammates too. Funk added 21 points and 16 boards while Sharp scored 21 with 10 rebounds for Lone Peak. LeSean Wilcox had 13, Tucker 10 and Allridge eight for the home team.
It was the first loss in Utah this season for the Vikings (2-1, 12-2, who will try to rebound when they host American Fork (1-2, 5-9) on Friday, while the Knights (3-0, 12-2) will host Lehi (0-3, 6-8).
On a related note, Lewis confirmed that Sharp has now received a full athletic scholarship from the University of Utah. He had originally agreed to be a walk-on with the expectation that he could compete for a scholarship.
Lone Peak 83, Pleasant Grove 74
Lone Peak (83)
Sharp 21, Haws 27, Hamilton 3, Payne 7, Funk 21, D. Smith 4. Totals 30 17-26 83.
Pleasant Grove (74)
Tucker 10, Thurgood 4, L. Wilcox 13, Nielson 2, C. Wilcox 30, Allridge 8, Tanoai 6, Lloyd 1. Totals 24 20-30 74.
Lone Peak 18 21 26 18 83
Pleasant Grove 20 15 24 15 74
3 point goals: Lone Peak 6 (Haws 3, Sharp 2, Payne); Pleasant Grove 6 (C. Wilcox 2, Tucker 2, L. Wilcox, Allridge). |
