Orem boys basketball stays hot, beats Maple Mountain
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- Orem junior Chance Dastrup drives into the lane during the Region 7 game against Maple Mountain in Orem on Friday, Feb. 2,2024.
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- Orem senior Asher Young hands the ball off during the Region 7 game against Maple Mountain in Orem on Friday, Feb. 2,2024.
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- Orem junior Trey Hiatt goes up for a layup during the Region 7 game against Maple Mountain in Orem on Friday, Feb. 2,2024.
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- Maple Mountain celebrate a good play during the Region 7 game at Orem on Friday, Feb. 2,2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Matt Peterson shoots a shot during the Region 7 game at Orem on Friday, Feb. 2,2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Brogan Miles shoots a 3-pointer during the Region 7 game at Orem on Friday, Feb. 2,2024.
It would be understandable if the Orem boys basketball felt pretty confident in the early going of Friday’s Region 7 home game against Maple Mountain.
After all, the Tigers had defeated the Golden Eagles 68-54 in Spanish Fork in January and things appeared to be headed the same way as Orem scored the first nine points of the game.
Anyone who looks at the final score — a 75-63 Tiger win — might think that Orem had a comfortable time of it as they faced Maple Mountain.
But it wasn’t nearly that simple for the Tigers.
“Credit to (the Golden Eagles),” Orem head coach Jace Tavita said. “Basketball is a game of runs. We made our runs and they made their runs. Ultimately we got enough stops and scores to finish it out. I’m happy with how we finished the game. Obviously you’ll take the win anytime.”
Maple Mountain used a combination of solid 3-point shooting (nine made treys) and drawing fouls to hang tough for much of the contest. The Tigers generally don’t go deep on their bench, so foul trouble forced Orem to adapt.
“We are fortunate because we have kids who can guard multiple positions,” Tavita said. “We switched kids around and put forwards on guards, did different things like that because we had to be mindful of the foul trouble.”
But while the opportunities were there late in the game, the Golden Eagles just couldn’t make quite enough plays.
Maple Mountain cut the Tiger lead to just five points on a couple of occasions in the fourth quarter, but Orem always seemed to find the answer it needed to stay in front.
“We were just out there playing basketball,” Tavita said. “When you have a kid like Trey Hyatt who you can throw it into and you have kids who can make the passes to him, it’s good to have that. He was big down the stretch. It’s hard when teams have to play from behind and pressure.”
Orem ended up getting 22 points from junior Jax Allen, while Hiatt put in 14, junior Chance Dastrup added 13 and senior Asher Young chipped in 11.
Maple Mountain got a “straight” as senior Bennett Averett had 15 points, senior Colton Marker had 14, senior Justin Carlisle had 13 and senior Matt Peterson had 12.
It was the 10th straight win for the Tigers but Tavita feels like his team is still focused on getting better.
“We are definitely improving,” Tavita said. “All these other teams see we are 10-0 in region and they’re giving us their best shot. We expect that every night. We’re working hard and we’re learning through victory, which is the best way.”
Orem (15-4) will stay at home for its next game against Wasatch on Feb. 6, while Maple Mountain (9-10) heads on the road to play at Cedar Valley on the same evening.
Both games are slated to tipoff at 7 p.m.
