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Timpview senior Taki Uluilakepa goes up for a layup during the 5A quarterfinal game against Cottonwood at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Timpview senior Taki Uluilakepa dishes the ball to a teammate during the 5A quarterfinal game against Cottonwood at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Timpview junior Quezon Villa drives to the basket during the 5A quarterfinal game against Cottonwood at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Timpview freshman Dean Rueckert goes up for a layup during the 5A quarterfinal game against Cottonwood at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Timpview senior Eli St. Clair drives to the basket during the 5A quarterfinal game against Cottonwood at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Timpview senior Taki Uluilakepa goes up for a layup during the 5A quarterfinal game against Cottonwood at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Timpview freshman Dean Rueckert goes up for a layup during the 5A quarterfinal game against Cottonwood at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Timpview junior Quezon Villa dishes the ball during the 5A quarterfinal game against Cottonwood at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Timpview freshman Dean Rueckert goes up for a layup during the 5A quarterfinal game against Cottonwood at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

❮ ❯

On Valentine’s Day, Timpview senior guard Taki Uluilakepa went up for a shot and ended up crashing to the floor hard. The impact resulted in a concussion and the Thunderbirds had to play for the next two weeks without him.

“I was trying get back to being myself, get back to 100%,” Uluilakepa said. “I just wanted to help my team.”

Fortunately for No. 7-seeded Timpview, the senior was cleared to play for Wednesday’s 5A quarterfinal game at the Dee Events Center in Ogden against No. 2 Cottonwood — and he made the most of it.

“It felt great to be back on the court,” Uluilakepa said with a grin. “I just want to help my team get as far as we can.”

Not only did Uluilakepa lead the Thunderbirds in scoring, he also made some key plays late in the game to help Timpview hold on for the 60-57 win to keep their season alive.

“Throughout the whole year, I’ve had a big role towards the end of the game,” Uluilakepa said. “I love to have the ball in my hands at the end of the game. I really trust myself and my whole team really. It’s really just a team thing.”

Timpview head coach Izzy Ingle said it made a big difference to have the senior guard able to play again.

“He’s an amazing player,” Ingle said. “He had that really bad fall but has tried to do everything he can the right way to get back on the floor. We are a different team when he is there.”

Ingle explained that since Uluilakepa had only had one practice in the last couple of weeks, the T’Birds knew he might be a little rusty.

“But having him at 70% is better than having a lot of players in the state at 100%,” Ingle said. “He’s so instinctive on some of the things that he does. We trust him with the ball and his decision-making.”

That paid dividends down the stretch of a very close game against the Colts. Although Timpview led for more than 27 minutes, it couldn’t shake a talented Cottonwood squad that just kept coming back.

The Colts got a layup from guard Max Russo midway through the fourth quarter to make the score 55-53 in favor of the Thunderbirds.

Timpview needed a big play on offense and Uluilakepa came through, getting a layup of his own to push the lead to four. After the T’Birds got a couple of defensive stops, he was fouled and made 2-of-4 free throws to help Timpview close out the win.

“He’s just a tough competitor and he’ll make the make the other ones,” Ingle said.

Uluilakepa led a balanced Timpview scoring effort with 15 points, while senior James Rust had 13, senior Eli St. Clair tallied 12 and freshman Dean Rueckert put in 11.

Cottonwood was led by 14 point from Kirath Makhar.

With the win, the Thunderbirds earned a spot in the semifinals where they will face Region 8 foe Orem.

“t’s going to be three of the Final Four from our region,” Ingle said. “We’ve been battle tested all year. We know these guys. Our team has been through a lot. We’ve only had like five games in region where we had our whole team. A good thing is that our players never gave up on anything. The next guy stepped up and now we have a lot more experience.”

Uluilakepa said he’s looking forward to the opportunity.

“It’s huge to get into this next game,” Uluilakepa said. “We’ve had good games with them and we are trying to get revenge (from earlier losses).”

The 5A semifinal will take place at the Dee Events Center in Ogden Friday at 8:40 p.m.

Box score

Timpview (60)

Uluilakepa 15, Rueckert 11, Villa 7, St. Clair 12, Rust 13, Smith 2. Totals 22 8-19 60.

Cottonwood (57)

Price 13, Cox 11, Mahkar 14, Russo 6, Oliphant 8, Oguama 5. Totals 22 7-10 57.

Timpview 18 17 13 12 — 60

Cottonwood 18 15 10 14 — 57

3-pointers: Timpview 8 (Rueckert 2, St. Clair 2, Rust 2, Villa, Uluilakepa); Cottonwood 4 (Price, Cox, Mahkar, Oguama).

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