Juan Diego’s Tevarii Pecqueux drives the ball with Brighton’s Nash Matheson, left, and Kaden Morzelewski, right, on defense in the second round playoff game for 5A high school boys basketball at Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024.
Megan Nielsen, Deseret News
6A Playoffs
Copper Hills 65, Syracuse 62
In a closely-fought game, No. 17 Syracuse managed to secure a victory over No. 16 Copper Hills, 62-65, in the 6A first round. From Syracuse, Terik Hamblin led the scoring with 15 points, along with a three-pointer. Joshua Godfrey and Logan Goddard followed closely with 14 and 13 points and contributed a three-pointer and three three-pointers, respectively. Meanwhile, Copper Hills was led by Isaiah Reiser who scored a lordly 23 points, bolstered by five 3-pointers.
Mountain Ridge 72, Westlake 57
No. 18 seed Mountain Ridge secured a 6A first round win over No. 15 Westlake 72-57 behind the impressive efforts of Spencer Krainich, Will Lindsay and Jackson Briggs. Krainich led the scoring with 18 points including one 3-pointer, Lindsay added 15 points and Briggs scored 13 points with four 3-pointers for Mountain Ridge. Jace Adams and Graydin Anderson put up a fight for Westlake, scoring 16 and 14 points respectively, including three and two 3-pointers each.
5A Playoffs
Olympus 96, Salem Hills 49
No. 2 seed Olympus clinched a commanding victory over No. 18 Salem Hills, 96-49, in the 5A second round. The win was buoyed by the exceptional performances by Dutch DowDell, Reef Smylie and Gavin Lowe. DowDell poured in an impressive 32 points including five 3-pointers. Smylie scored 25 points, including one 3-pointer, and Lowe added 16 points. Meanwhile, Chase DeGraffenried and Kolby Dyches tried to keep Salem Hills competitive with 17 and 15 points respectively.
Timpview 54, Wasatch 43
No. 4 Timpview earned a 5A second round victory over No. 13 Wasatch 54-43, thanks to key contributions by Mason Ford, Aisa Galea’i, Dean Rueckert, and Callen Tollestrup. Ford scored 13 points, Galea’i and Tollestrup each added 12 points, with Galea’i and Rueckert each making one 3-pointer. Jacob Balch and Sam Lind put up strong performances for Wasatch with Balch scoring 17 and Lind adding 16, including three 3-pointers.
Orem 63, West Jordan 44
No. 5 Orem powered past West Jordan, 63-44, on Tuesday night in the 5A second round. They were led by impressive performances from Jack Allen, Asher Young, Trey Hiatt, and Chance Dastrup. Allen stood out with 22 points, including one 3-pointer, Young netted 15 points, and Hiatt added 14 points, while Dastrup scored 12 points, including three 3-pointers for Orem. Carter Dorenbosch and Quinton Robinson were the high scorers for West Jordan with 12 and 11 points respectively.
Alta 82, Roy 48
Top seed Alta triumphed over Roy, 82-48, riding on strong performances from Carter Doleac, Carter Goodfellow, Jaxon Johnson, Zak Paepke and Dash Reiser in the 5A second round. Doleac led the scoring for Alta with 16 points, as Goodfellow and Johnson added 12 and 14 points respectively. Corben Schuffenhauer emerged as the lead scorer with 12 points for Roy in the loss.
Brighton 70, Juan Diego 53
No. 8 seed Brighton surged past No. 9 seed Juan Diego, 70-53, in the 5A second round as Bradley Easton buried five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, to key a big 30-point quarter for the Bengals. Easton had a standout game with 25 points, including six 3-pointers and four rebounds. Jaxon Soto added 18 points with six rebounds, while Nash Matheson recorded 17 points. Luke Meyer was the leading scorer for Juan Diego with 21 points, but his efforts weren’t enough to counter Brighton’s strong fourth-quarter rally.
Bountiful 76, Cedar Valley 53
No. 6 Bountiful defeated No. 11 Cedar Valley in a high scoring battle, 76-53, in the 5A second round. Carson Smith was outstanding for Bountiful with his 22 points, which included four 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists. Teammates Bryson Heath and Faletau Satuala also gave noteworthy performances with 18 and 15 points respectively. On the Cedar Valley side, Heath Christensen led the scores with his 20 points, including three 3-pointers.
Highland 67, Viewmont 50
Highland emerged victorious against Viewmont, 67-50, backed by the high scoring performances from George McConkie, Matt Lambson, and Grayson Gaddis. McConkie led the scoring board for Highland with 16 points. Lambson contributed with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, while Gaddis added 12 points, including four 3-pointers. Viewmont’s efforts were led by Drez Jensen who put up 15 points that included two 3-pointers.
Skyline 62, Springville 54
In a game where momentum shifted multiple times, No. 10 Skyline managed to turn the tides in their favor in the fourth quarter, outscoring No. 7 Springville to secure the 5A second round win, 62-54. For Skyline, Beau Bierman led the scoring with 17 points, and a 3-pointer added to his tally. Springville was led by an outstanding performance from Jamyn Sondrup who scored the game-high of 23 points. Luke Nadauld followed with 18 points, including two 3-pointers.
4A Playoffs
Pine View 75, Uintah 53
No. 12 Pine View defeated No. 21 Uintah, 75-53, in the 4A first round led by the stellar performances of Griffen Shepherd and Adam Moore. Shepherd led Pine View with 24 points, including one 3-pointer, while Moore chipped in with 16 points and made three 3-pointers. On the other side, Dauson Gardiner was the top scorer for Uintah with 26 points, including three 3-pointers, but couldn’t match Pine View’s firepower.
Timpanogos 54, Sky View 42
No. 16 seed Timpanogos defeated No. 17 seed Sky View, 54-42, with significant contributions from Jack Johnson and Jaxen McCuistion in the 4A first round. Johnson led Timpanogos’ scoring with 15 points, including a three-pointer. McCuistion added 12 points to the tally, striking two three-pointers. For Sky View, Bryton Williams was the main scorer with 17 points, including three 3-pointers.
Provo 68, Park City 49
Ninth-seeded Provo defeated No. 24 Park City, 68-49, with outstanding performances from Trey Johnson, Makai Allen, Jason Carter and Griffin DeMartini in the 4A first round. Johnson was the top scorer for Provo with 17 points, including four 3-pointers. Allen and Carter chipped in with 13 points each, while DeMartini contributed 12 points, including two 3-pointers. For Park City, Duke Gordon led the scoring with 23 points, including two 3-pointers.
Mountain View 68, Cedar City 67
No. 10 seed Mountain View fought its way to win over No. 23 Cedar City, 68-67 in the 4A first round. For Cedar City, top scorers were Landon Kreitzer, JT Jeter and Carson Visser, contributing 20, 12, and 12 points respectively. On the Mountain View side, Bryce Mella stood out with a game-high of 32 points, which included four 3-pointers. Conner Fairbanks and Simeon Suguturaga also contributed greatly with 19 and eight points respectively.
Mountain Crest 61, Payson 54
No. 14 seed Mountain Crest came from behind to beat no. 19 Payson, 61-54, for the 4A first round win. Joshua Arnell led the scoring for Mountain Crest with 21 points, including four 3-pointers. Kaden Hess and Joseph Hunsaker also made significant contributions with 16 and 10 points respectively. For Payson, Kamika Wesley and Joseph Wolfe led the scores with 19 and 11 points respectively, each adding three 3-pointers to their credit.
Bear River 58, Hurricane 55
No. 11 Bear River managed to secure a tight victory over No. 22 Hurricane, 60-55, in the 4A first round. For Bear River, Kyver Jensen led the scoring with a total of 20, including two 3-pointers. Gehrig Marble followed closely with 17 points and two 3-pointers. RJ Hurst was the leading scorer for Hurricane with 19 points which included three 3-pointers. Cayleb Jackman and Brigham Kemp followed with 10 and nine points respectively.
Desert Hills 71, Jordan 51
No. 15 seed Desert Hills triumphed over No. 18 seed Jordan in the 5A first round, 71-45, with a high-scoring offensive show by Eli Allred and Ben Chase. Allred led the scoring for Desert Hills with 22 points, including two 3-pointers. Chase added to the scoring with 21 points, including three 3-pointers. For Jordan, the main scorer was Preston Chaney with 16 points, including three 3-pointers.
Crimson Cliffs 72, Hillcrest 54
No. 13 Crimson Cliffs dominated the fourth quarter, reversing an early setback to beat No. 20 Hillcrest, 72-54, in the 4A first round. Steele Barben led the scoring for Crimson Cliffs with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Felts Sean, Johnson Luke, and Noah Nelson also contributed significantly with 12, 12 and 10 points respectively. For Hillcrest, Isaac Miller was the top scorer, shooting 15 points including three 3-pointers.