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Lehi's Easton Hawkins (2) dunks the ball during the 6A boys basketball state championship game at the Huntsman Center on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Cooper Lewis launches a 3-pointer against Corner Canyon during the 6A boys basketball state title game at the Huntsman Center on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi students react during the 6A boys basketball state championship game against Corner Canyon at the Huntsman Center on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Kaleb Moore takes a 3-pointer against Corner Canyon in the 6A boys basketball state championship game at the Huntsman Center on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Easton Hawkins (2) takes a jump shot over Corner Canyon's Derrell Desire during the 6A boys basketball state championship game at the Huntsman Center on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Cooper Lewis gathers himself for a shot against Corner Canyon during the 6A boys basketball state championship game at the Huntsman Center on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Grayson Brousseau (33) drives around a screen against Corner Canyon during the 6A boys basketball state championship game at the Huntsman Center on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi's Cooper Lewis (in white) evades the defense of Corner Canyon's Derrell Desire during the 6A boys basketball state championship game at the Huntsman Center on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Lehi students react during the 6A boys basketball state championship game against Corner Canyon at the Huntsman Center on Friday, March 1, 2024.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

❮ ❯

Call it “the Great Reversal.”

Lehi fans watching Friday evening’s 6A boys basketball championship from the stands at Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City probably felt a strong sense of dread as the game started.

Their No. 2-seeded Pioneers looked to be in serious trouble against the long, athletic Corner Canyon, the No. 4 seed.

The Chargers exploded out of the gate, stuffing the Lehi offense and getting layups at the other end. Before many fans had even settled into their seats, the Pioneers found themselves in an 11-2 hole.

Lehi head coach Quincy Lewis called a timeout to settle his guys down — and it worked probably better than even he expected.

The Pioneers started playing their brand of basketball: Tough, physical defense and an aggressive, attacking mentality on offense. That was exactly what Lehi needed to come from behind and get the 78-67 win.

Behind 12 points from junior Easton Hawkins, Lehi surged back to tie the game at 17-17 at the end of the first quarter.

Then Pioneer senior star Cooper Lewis (Quincy Lewis’s son) got going and Lehi went on a tear.

The Pioneers scored the next 21 points — eight coming from Cooper Lewis — to cap an incredible 36-6 run that gave Lehi a huge lead.

A great team like Corner Canyon wasn’t going to go down without a fight, however, and the Chargers put together a little 9-2 run to get some momentum before the break.

But Cooper Lewis had one more statement to make, stepping back for a 30-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer that might have reminded BYU basketball fans of a certain deep 3-pointer drained to end the first half by Jimmer Fredette when playing against Utah in 2011.

Lehi led 43-26 at the break and spent the entire second half answering every Corner Canyon push.

The Pioneer advantage fluctuated between 23 and 15 points in the third quarter, which was just fine with Lehi.

The Chargers, however, knew that time was running out. They needed points and stops to get back into the game.

Corner Canyon got just that in the early going of the final period as it started with the ball. Noah Bendinger drained a 3-pointer, then the Chargers rebounded a Pioneer miss and Bendinger hit a transition trey.

Lehi then turned the ball over and Bendinger was fouled as he made a layup, getting Corner Canyon to within eight for the first time since the second quarter.

The Chargers had a ton of momentum and put pressure on Lehi to respond.

First it was Cooper Lewis stepping up again after the Pioneers chased down an offensive rebound. He drilled another 3-pointer to make the score 66-55.

The teams exchanged layups and dunks over the next couple of minutes as Lehi couldn’t pull away but Corner Canyon couldn’t close the gap either.

Hawkins hit another big trey with just under three minutes to play, but with under two minutes left the Chargers had a good look from beyond the arc that rimmed out. It would’ve made it a six-point game and made the finish even more tense for the Pioneers.

On the next possession, Lehi got a big tip-in by senior Gabe Cowan, but Corner Canyon answered with a short shot by Derelle Desire.

A miscommunication resulted in a Pioneer turnover with 55 seconds left, giving the Chargers a glimmer of hope.

But Lehi senior Grayson Brousseau, the hero of the semifinals, took a charge to give the ball back to the Pioneers. Cooper Lewis put the exclamation mark on the win with a steal and a layup to give Lehi the 11-point win.

Cooper Lewis finished with 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting with five 3-pointers, while Hawkins had 23 points and eight rebounds.

Corner Canyon was paced by 20 points from Desire, while Brody Kozlowski had 16.

It was Lehi’s second state title in four years. The Pioneers won the 5A title in 2021 as a No. 3-seed, edging No. 4-seeded Farmington, 61-57, in the championship.

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