LLOYD: State of Utah Valley high school basketball after 2024-25 season
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- Lone Peak players celebrate after winning the 6A championship game against Copper Hills at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025.
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- The Payson boys basketball team celebrates after winning the 4A state title at the American First Events Center in Cedar City on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
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- Lone Peak freshmen Maddie Pope (left) and Huni Folau cheer on their team during the 6A championship game against Copper Hills at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025.
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- Westlake junior Greydin Anderson goes up for a layup during the 6A quarterfinal game against Davis at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025.
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- Lehi’s Ashton Shewell (left) drives against Herriman’s Dray Stilson in a 6A boys basketball state quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025.
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- Lone Peak senior Ty Cogswell dunks the ball during the 6A quarterfinal game against Layton at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025.
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- Westlake players celebrate a made 3-pointer during the 6A quarterfinal game against Davis at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025.
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- Orem’s Simeon Suguturaga (left) and Trey Hiatt help teammate Ryker Mikkelsen to his feet during a 5A boys basketball state quarterfinal game against Brighton at the Huntsman Center on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.
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- Springville senior Andrew Miller drives to the basket during the 5A quarterfinal game against Brighton at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.
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- Timpview senior Grace Erbstoesser has the ball knocked away during the 5A quarterfinal game against Wasatch at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.
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- Timpview senior Lina Ballin gets a huge from Wasatch junior Filifaiesea Liava’a after the 5A quarterfinal game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.
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- Timpview junior Callen Tollestrup goes up for a layup during the 5A semifinal game against Olympus at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025.
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- Lone Peak players celebrate after winning the 6A championship game against Copper Hills at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025.
People like me who love high-level high school basketball have been in heaven for the past couple of weeks.
Athletes, coaches, fans and observers have gotten caught up in the thrills and endured the spills that come with the win-or-go-home reality of the state tournaments.
No matter whether your team won it all or got knocked out early, what a great ride it was.
I want to start by congratulating the two Utah Valley teams who earned the right to hoist the state title trophy, two that came from opposite ends of the county and from very different legacies.
Payson boys basketball has had some really good squads in the past but they finally broke through to win their first title in 2025 on Feb. 22, while the Lone Peak girls team joined some elite company by winning their fourth straight championship on Thursday.
Watching and getting photos highlighting the ecstatic faces of athletes after they have achieved their biggest goal is one of my favorite experiences.
The hugs, the dogpiles, the shouts of celebration, the racing over to enjoy the moment with the fellow students who cheered them on, the cutting down of the nets, the dousing of the coaches and each other, all of these combine to create something unforgettable no matter how many titles a team wins, whether it’s one or 100.
But I also see the value of those who experience the other side, the heartbreak and overpowering emotion that comes when things don’t go how a team hoped. The fact that they care so much that it hurts is the clearest sign to me of how much these athletes invested in themselves and each other.
To every athlete who put themselves out there in the form of drills, practices, conditioning, skill development, study, teamwork and effort, I say well done. The value of that goes far beyond what the scoreboard said at the end of the day.
Here are a few other thoughts I had as I think back over the 2024-25 Utah Valley high school basketball season and tournaments in general:
The skills of these athletes are off the charts
I can’t help but be impressed by how good players are at so many things.
The handles are often so crafty that sometimes it’s hard to believe these athletes can make moves without traveling until you look more closely.
The shooting can be so dynamic and players seem to be just as confident bombing away from 25 feet as 20 feet — and sometimes even farther out. Players of all heights and abilities have clearly worked hard on making the deep ball part of their arsenal.
And defenses are relentless. These athletes fight for position, cut off angles, create havoc with traps, work together to make scoring tougher for opponents.
There are a lot of things to like about the overall state of basketball, but I do see what appears to be some gaps like …
What happened to the hook shot?
If you are a 6-foot-6 player going up against a 6-0 player, you should be confident in your ability to get the ball up and over your defender. Set a down screen to get open on the low block, get the entry pass and shoot the simple hook shot up and in.
This can create so many problems for opposing defenses, particularly if you have multiple players capable of being consistent in the post. It forces players to help, making it much easier to play inside-out basketball with those good shooters I was talking about.
But if players have spent all their time on jump shooting, it’s going to diminish the effectiveness of the process really quickly.
I just wonder if too many kids don’t have that tool in their collection of skills when it could be a huge asset.
Give the referees a break
Officials make convenient scapegoats. If the call goes against you, it must be because it was a terrible referee, right?
But the game needs someone to enforce the rules and no matter who it is they are going to do it to the best of their ability. They’ll see what they see and call what they call.
There were some calls that were really tough, like the quick whistle on the game-changing jump ball in the Salem Hills-West 5A girls basketball semifinal on Wednesday or the reach-in call in the Lone Peak-Copper Hills 6A girls championship on Thursday.
But so what? You could point to dozens of calls or no-calls that you don’t agree with. Sometimes I get photos that clearly show a foul occurred even when it wasn’t called.
I just think every player and coach should have two mentalities when it comes to officiating: 1. We will adjust to what they are calling instead of expecting the officials to adjust what we want to be called and 2. We’re going to be so good that we’ll win anyway.
Value what makes high school basketball unique
I know club basketball is a big deal and that’s where a lot of recruiting happens, but I don’t want to see high school basketball follow the same path. I don’t like trying to build “dream teams” with transfers and move-ins.
High school basketball should be about community. It should be about kids who have known each other for most of their lives getting the chance to play on a team in front of their neighbors and friends.
It’s something that I loved about Payson’s programs. I talked to the coaches earlier in the year about how many of their athletes went to their camps when they were younger and many of the coaches are former Lion players.
I just hope we never sacrifice that because winning is the only goal that matters.
