The Enterprise boys basketball team celebrates winning the 2A state championship at Southern Utah University in Cedar City on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.
Carson Hilton
It’s been a long road for No. 3 Enterprise to win another state championship since it last did so 30 years ago.
The Wolves got into the 2A championship in 2020, 2021 and 2022 but came up short every time.
Last year Enterprise entered the 2A tournament as the top seed but lost in the quarterfinals to Parowan.
Finally the journey for the Wolves to win their first state championship since 1994 is over after a 61-48 win over No. 5 North Summit on Saturday.
“We were mentally focused throughout the game,” said Treyson Randall, who finished with 14 points and shot 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. “It was a great team effort. We shared the ball, found the open man and today it happened to be me.
“It feels so surreal, it’s amazing. We’ve come up short at a couple of championship chances the last few years and we had enough fuel this time to finish it out.”
The first quarter belonged to North Summit behind Buck Sargent’s six early points for a 14-12 lead.
Things turned in the Wolves’ favor in the second quarter as Randall hit two 3-pointers to help Enterprise gain a 25-21 halftime lead.
The Wolves knew that to win the game they needed to contain Sargent in the second half and that’s what they did.
Sargent was the motor for the Braves throughout the tournament, but the Wolves held him to 16 points on 38% shooting.
Enterprise largely had Treyson Whitman to thank as Whitman put up 16 points and eight rebounds while being tasked with guarding Sargent.
“We played North Summit earlier in the year and Buck had a good game, so Whitman took that personally,” said Enterprise head coach Bud Randall.
Said Whitman: “I had to play my part and play physical with (Sargent) and that really helped us. It was an amazing team win and that’s all I can say. We all are so close and one family.”
Enterprise continued to build its lead by outscoring North Summit 21-12 in the third quarter. Brady Crouch was key in that, as he had nine points in the second half and 14 in the game.
“We’ve been playing together since we were little, and we mesh well together,” said Crouch. “We have lots of guys that can make shots, so we like to work it around and get the best shot possible.
“We work together and work together. We work hard on defense and that leads to offense. It feels so good. It’s the best feeling.”
North Summit made a push in the fourth quarter, but Enterprise matched its effort and held on for the 2A championship win.
“They’ve been there before and we’ve been on the losing end and we didn’t want that to happen again,” said Bud Randall.
“They did anything they could to make sure we won today and we had a great tournament. We knew that if we played our style we could win. Sometimes that means playing fast and sometimes it means slowing it down and taking good shots.”
Deseret News 2A All-Tournament Team
MVP: Treyson Whitman, Enterprise
Brady Crouch, Enterprise
Dax Hunt, Enterprise
Buck Sargent, North Summit
Trevor Richins, North Summit
Peter Hakim, APA West Valley