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Lehi's Tuk Howe (10) goes up for a shot against Farmington in a 6A boys basketball state quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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American Fork's Dieter Tuitavuki (21) plays defense against Herriman's Xavier Mulford in a 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Tillman Huish drives to the basket against Farmington in a 6A boys basketball state quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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American Fork's Dieter Tuitavuki (left) drives around Herriman's Xavier Mulford in a 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Trevor Anderson goes for a layup against Farmington in a 6A boys basketball state quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Ashton Shewell (15) signals a 3-point make against Farmington in a 6A boys basketball state quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Isaac Smith takes a 3-pointer against Farmington in a 6A boys basketball state quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Nate Rosenlof (5) takes a shot against Farmington in a 6A boys basketball state quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Trevor Anderson drives against Farmington in a 6A boys basketball state quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Tillman Huish is undercut by a Farmington player in a 6A boys basketball state quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Ashton Shewell (right) tries to avoid a Farmington defender in a 6A boys basketball state quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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American Fork fans react during a 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game against Herriman at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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American Fork's Bryce Mella (4) helps up teammate Jax Clark in a 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game against Herriman at the Huntsman Center on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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American Fork's Bryce Mella (left) drives to the basket against Herriman's Kole Worthington in a 6A boys basketball quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

❮ ❯

Peaking at the right time is the goal of every competitive athlete, and for Lehi’s Tuk Howe, he certainly proved to be on top of his game during his team’s 67-59 win over Farmington in the 6A state quarterfinals on Wednesday.

And a breakout game from the 6-foot-7 junior forward was certainly needed, all things considered.

Saddled with foul trouble for a good portion of the second half, Lehi star guard Ashton Shewell was forced to ride the pine throughout most of the third quarter and for the first four minutes of the fourth.

So enter Howe, and his game-high 29 points scored while proving the model of efficiency with his 12-14 effort from the field. He dominated the low-post throughout the game, grabbed timely rebounds and even managed to hit three of his five 3-point attempts.

“Tuck Howe did a great job with the confidence that he played with,” said Lehi coach Reed Bromley. “He’s been coming, and we knew this was coming. We’re just really proud of him.”

His effort worked in stark contrast to the two points he scored back in late January, when the Pioneers defeated the same Phoenix team 78-70. Leading the way for Lehi inn that particular game was Shewell, who scored a pretty typical 28 points that night and Nate Rosenlof, who added 27.

Shewell did managed 13 points in Wednesday’s win, and Rosenlof another 10, but added defensive focus on those two, along with Shewell’s foul trouble, necessitated others stepping up their game.

“That’s the thing I loved about this game and what I love about this team,” Bromley said. “Tuk stepped up big and made them pay, and that’s exactly what we need with teams focused so heavily on shutting Ashton down.”

Despite Shewell’s relatively quiet scoring effort, Lehi managed to lead throughout, and built an early 11-5 lead that stretched to 34-24 at the half. But four total fouls committed by Shewell forced him to the bench and perhaps provided enough of an opening for Farmington to close the lead to just 52-50 during the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

“That’s a really good young team and (Farmington coach) Kasey (Walkenhurst) is a great coach, so we knew they weren’t just going to go away,” Bromley said. “And then we’re having to sit Ashton for most of the second half, and it made it tough. But Tuk, again, what a game from him and from a lot of other guys who really stepped up and we needed all of them today.”

Playing steady from the point, as he often does, was Tillman Huish, whose nine points scored and six assists proved pivotal in the outcome.

“Tillman was so steady out there today, I thought,” Bromley assessed. “He did a really good job keeping things under control and orchestrating just about everything we did. He was big for us today.”

With the win the Pioneers advance to the semifinal round where it will take on Westlake at the Huntsman Center on Thursday.

Cavemen confound Herriman 46-39

It was all defense all the time during American Fork’s 46-39 win over Herriman where the final outcome wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate.

For the game American Fork allowed just eight points scored in the first quarter and then just seven points during the second and third quarters, respectively.

“Keeping them at 15 in the first half, keeping them under 40. (Against) a team like that, we had to have hands up and we had to rebound out of it and we switched some things up defensively I think helped as well just so they couldn’t get a rhythm,” said American Fork coach Ryan Cuff. “They’re just a really good team and we had a lot of respect for Coach Meacham and his team.”

Overall the Cavemen held the Mustangs to just 32% shooting from the field while winning the rebounding battle 31-19. It was all accomplished without much full court pressure or by forcing turnovers, but by just straight up defensive pressure that led to tough shot attempts and relatively few second-chance opportunities.

“We worked really hard on keeping the guy in front of us,” Cuff said. “… We switched a lot. So we have trust that all our guys can keep guys in front of them. Everybody had a chance to guard Carlo (Mulford.) It’s not just one guy even though Jaxon Soehner started on him.”

Mulford came into the game averaging just over 20 points per a game to lead his team, but was limited to just 3-8 shooting on Wednesday for 11 total points, which played a big role in the final outcome.

On the offensive end the Cavemen struggled initially, scoring just 17 points to finish the half before kicking things in gear during the second.  Cuff’s team matched the 17 point total in the third quarter to take a commanding 34-22 lead into the fourth as shots started falling while the defensive clinic was maintained on the other side of the court.

“They scouted well and they knew some of our sets and that’s why we changed some things up,” Cuff said. “We know that there’s very many coaches that prepare extremely well and (Herriman) Coach Meacham’s one. And we were ready to go to the boards. And the boards were very helpful.”

Leading the way on the offensive end of the floor for the Cavemen was Bryce Mella, who scored a game-high 22 points, but according to Cuff, the senior guard was even more impactful with his defense.

“He’s unselfish … He’s just a team guy,” Cuff said. “So he’s a joy to coach and he really wants to get other guys involved too … But it’s a time where tournament-wise, he’s enough to take over and get himself to the foul line a little bit more and get downhill and do a little bit more for us on the offensive end.”

Other standouts for American Fork included Jax Clark, who scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds along with Jax Oyler, Bridger Burnside and Ashton Hucks, who all chipped in five points.

With the win American Fork advances to the semifinal round where it will take on Bingham.