It had to the worst nightmare for the Spanish Fork defense.

Then Pleasant Grove senior guard Craig Tucker found the range.

Tucker nailed three of his four 3-pointers during a big 23-4 run that broke open a 42-42 tie, and the Vikings held off a late Don charge to get the 80-65 win.

"I told C.J. Wilcox that when he attacked the basket, I'd be in the corner," Tucker explained. "They were collapsing on him, so I hit one and I thought I'd go ahead a hit a couple more."

Tucker's bombs forced Spanish Fork to extend their defense, allowing Pleasant Grove to navigate inside and the Vikings pounced on the advantage.

"Craig Tucker got hot and hit some big shots," said Pleasant Grove head coach Randy McAllister. "We also thrive on getting stops and pushing the ball. That gets us going and we were able to do that."

The defensive intensity forced Spanish Fork into 20 turnovers -- 13 of them in the first half -- and put the visiting team in position to do what they wanted to do.

Tucker wasn't the only player on the floor to shoot well from downtown. The Dons hit seven treys in the first half to keep themselves close.

"They had made 7-of-11 from outside at the half," McAllister said. "That's a testament to good defense, when the best shot they can get is a 22-footer. We just needed to get a hand in their faces. I don't know too many guys that can keep that up for 32 minutes."

Spanish Fork did cool in the second half but still hit three more beyond the arc to bring the team total to 10. Senior guard Matt Gardner led the way with six on his way to a team-high 22 points.

Some of those came as the home team mounted a furious rally, charging back to cut the deficit to nine with three minutes left in the game. The Dons had a chance to really put the pressure on at that point but a 3-pointer rimmed out.

"They got physical on defense and we didn't respond too well," McAllister said. "We picked up some silly fouls but in the end we responded and pushed back."

The victory was key for Pleasant Grove (15-2, 5-1) who still sits just a game behind Lone Peak in Region 7.

"If we'd lost to Spanish Fork, we'd be looking at playing for third or fourth," McAllister said. "The kids want to win region. That's been their goal since last year ended and we kept it alive tonight."

Spanish Fork (11-6, 3-3) will try to rebound when it plays No. 1 Lone Peak on Wednesday. The Vikings look to keep up the intensity when they host Timpanogos on the same evening. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

Jared Lloyd can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Pleasant Grove (80)

Tucker 24, C. Wilcox 21, Thurgood 13, Nielson 8, L. Wilcox 8, Schleitwiler 2, Adamson 2, Tanoai 2. Totals 27 22-30 80.

Spanish Fork (65)

Gardner 22, Naulu 11, Vergera 10, Nelson 9, Clayton 8, Peterson 3, McVey 2. Totals 22 11-20 65.

Pleasant Grove 14 17 22 27 -- 80

Spanish Fork 14 15 15 21 -- 65

3-point goals: Pleasant Grove 4 (Tucker 4); Spanish Fork 10 (Gardner 6, Naulu 3, Clayton).