But with the final seconds ticking off the clock on Saturday night’s 4A state title game against top-seeded Green Canyon at the American First Events Center in Cedar City, Payson had a chance to change history.

The Lions had overcome a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the Wolves at 51-51, then got a big defensive stop with under a minute to play.

Would this be their big moment?

With 20 seconds left, Payson senior guard Kade Jenson drove into the lane and bounced the ball down low to senior Micah Swasey. He was immediately swarmed by Green Canyon defenders, forcing him to kick the ball back out to Jenson.

Courtesy Anthony Mitchell

When two Wolves moved to cut him off, Jenson spotted junior Joseph Wolfe spotting up near the top of the key and immediately got him the ball.

“He’s been a good shooter all year,” Jensen said. “If he’s open, you’ve got to find him.”

Wolfe — who had knocked down a 3-pointer as part of the Lion comeback — set his feet and fired from beyond the college 3-point line.

“I was just praying it would go in,” Wolfe said.

Time seemed to slow as the ball arched through the air as both teams watched but eventually it splashed perfectly through the rim to give Payson the 3-point lead with 11.5 seconds to play.

Courtesy Anthony Mitchell

“I don’t remember thinking anything at that point,” Payson head coach Anthony Mitchell said. “I just remember seeing it go in, nothing but net, just pure as could be.”

Green Canyon senior Jude Haigh had drained six treys on his way to 22 points and had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but his shot came up short.

“After Joseph made that shot, my boys were acting like we had won it already and we were telling them that we had to figure out how we’re going to defend these guys,” Mitchell said. “He (Haigh) is a good shooter. He’s long and lanky. I remember when that shot went up, everything just paused. I’m like, I don’t know if that’s going in or not. As soon as I saw it bounce off and we got the rebound, it was like, wow, game over. I was so excited.”

Payson grabbed the rebound and raced down court to start the massive celebration as time expired and the Lions had the 54-51 win.

“It’s hard to put into words but I just loved coaching in that game,” Mitchell said. “I never felt any pressure. They had a great team with great players, but we just played Payson basketball. We knew if we defended and made things difficult for them, we’d have a chance at the end. I’m just so proud. This is our first state championship ever and it’s just a storybook ending.”

Courtesy Anthony Mitchell

Mitchell called Wolfe the team’s “best 3-point shooter” and said that was a great look.

The Lions roared out of the gate on a 7-0 run and led 9-2, but then Haigh got going from long range and flipped the script.

He drained five straight 3-pointers, pushing the Wolves out to a 23-15 lead early in the second quarter.

Payson battled back and only trailed 30-29 at halftime, then went back in front when they scored the first bucket of the third quarter.

Although the Lions got five big points from senior Legend Reynoso during the next few minutes of action, Green Canyon surged back into the lead and was up 46-37 early in the fourth quarter.

Courtesy Anthony Mitchell

But Payson didn’t back down, making big plays on both ends of the floor. The Lions got some big stops and the Wolves missed some foul shots as Payson closed the gap again.

Two big keys for the Lions were forcing steals (they had nine for the game) and getting to the glass (34-25 edge in rebounding).

“Those are two of our strengths,” Mitchell said. “That’s how we win games. We just kind of hung in there and hung in there. Everyone contributed. Winning that game was a team effort.”

A Reynoso layup and a foul shot by Jensen knotted the score at 51-51, setting up the drama of the final minute.

Payson had a balanced scoring effort, tallying 15 from Reynoso, 13 from Swasey, 12 from senior Zandon Theobald and nine from Wolfe.

Mitchell said that this group of Lion seniors kept the team composed even through the ups and downs of the season, which paid off when the title was on the line.

“I’m so proud of their hard work and dedication,” Mitchell said. “I noticed from the spring that these boys were so coachable, so humble, just willing to do anything for the team. We started off season great, and then we kind of had an up-and-down beginning of region. Some games were close and we lost a couple.

“We just said this is part of what we need to learn this season. This is going to help us down the road somewhere. I told them, ‘We’re going to be in close games, and we’ve got to learn how to handle it and come on top. These last two games we came back from behind and won. They just were so mature like I hoped they would be.”

Because of that, this Payson team gets to be the one to celebrate winning the title, including a fire-engine escort to school on Monday.

“It’s been absolutely amazing,” Mitchell said. “So many people are reaching out. We’ve had a couple of fast-food places here invite us for a free meal. There’s a lot of things planned with the school and what they’re going to do with the banner and

the trophy.”

But the Lion head coach believes this was something that this team was able to do for a community and all of the great Payson teams of the past who never got to bring home that state championship trophy.

“On a small way, we did it for all those previous teams as well,” Mitchell said. “I played here, my brothers played here and four of my assistant coaches played here. It was something none of us could do but they did.”

In homage to the past, Mitchell took down the “Do it like a champion” sign that had hung over the gym door to the home-team locker room for more than 35 years and brought it to Cedar City.

“Every basketball player has slapped that sign for every game going in and out of that room,” Mitchell said. “The night before the state tournament, I decided I was going to bring that down with us. I took it off the wall, we brought it with us, and we continued to slap that sign every game when we went to the locker room down there. It’s really a storybook handing for Payson High School and the whole community.”