Utah high school boys basketball: 3A quarterfinals

No. 10 Judge Memorial 69, No. 3 Emery 63

For three quarters, the underdog No. 10 Judge Memorial Bulldogs just couldn’t miss, but in the fourth quarter, they couldn’t even shoot.

When all was said and done, Judge Memorial, without making a field goal in the fourth quarter, held on desperately against No. 3 Emery and came away with a massive 69-63 upset to advance to the 3A state semifinals.

The Bulldogs went a blistering 9 of 13 from the arc in just the first half and finished the game shooting 13 of 21 from the arc, making more treys than Emery took (10).

With Judge up, 58-43, entering the fourth quarter, what looked like it would be a blowout for the Bulldogs changed completely when star senior JJ Apathjang fouled out early in the fourth quarter. That loss from the lineup spurred a furious comeback bid from the defensively-minded Spartans.

From that point on, Emery went on a 9-0 run and got within a few possessions of a successful rally. Not only could Judge not get a basket, it could scarcely find an opening to shoot.

The hot-shooting Bulldogs went completely scoreless for over six minutes of the fourth quarter, but they held on with 11 made free throws over the final two minutes.

Senior guard Aayden Saucedo finished as the leading scorer for Judge Memorial with 21 points, including a 4 of 5 clip from 3. Apathjang had 19 points, while sophomore Aymen Ismail added 16 points.

For Emery, senior Luke Justice led with 22 points. Seniors Wade Stilson and Zach Tuttle respectively added 19 and 10 points.

No. 1 South Summit 66, No. 9 American Heritage 61

A valiant effort from No. 9 American Heritage couldn’t close the gap on the top team in the tournament as No. 1 South Summit advanced to the semifinals with a 66-61 victory.

The Wildcats led every second of the game, and a decisive ejection of American Heritage’s best player in the fourth quarter effectively sealed South Summit’s advancement to the semifinals to take on No. 5 Richfield.

South Summit’s dominant length controlled the game from the interior. The mismatch under the hoop made senior Gage McKee look like an NBA All-Star for the Wildcats as he jammed five lobs for dunks in the game.

“That’s the most (dunks) we’ve ever had in a game,” South Summit coach Norm Hayter said.

McKee finished the game with 14 points, but it was senior Bracken Lassche who led the team, putting on a scoring clinic to finish with 27 points on 8 of 12 shooting, including 8 of 13 from the free-throw line.

The Patriots were a tougher matchup than expected from the four-team Region 15, entirely composed of private and charter school teams.

“They’re so tough,” Hayter said. “They just make life really tough for you defensively. They’re good a going to the hole, at shooting the 3-ball, we were just trying to contain their 3-point shooting and make them drive into our big guy.”

The Patriots were led by the Winitana brothers, Mana and Niwhai, as Mana scored 20 points, while Niwhai scored 17 points before being ejected in the fourth quarter after arguing a foul call too much.

American Heritage made a late push in the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run, but the Wildcats held on to the end for the victory.

No. 5 Richfield 62, No. 4 Manti 52

Before the clock even struck noon on the 3A state championship tournament, last year’s defending champion was headed for the door.

It was almost poetic that the song “Kryptonite” played on the speaker as No. 5 Richfield completed its third victory over the defending champion Manti Templars, 62-52, in the first game of the tournament at the Sevier Valley Center, where the Wildcats essentially had a home court advantage.

The Templars, who are well-known for their pace of play and outside shooting, went without a 3-pointer through the entire first half, only taking five attempts as the Wildcats clamped down on the perimeter while trusting their bigs to contain defending 3A Player of the Year Reggie Frischknecht.

Senior guard Miles Barnett led the Wildcats with 15 points, and he sunk an NBA-range 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to pace a scoring that effectively sealed the deal to send his team to the semifinals.

“Anytime Miles gets his feet set, he can shoot from anywhere,” Richfield coach Rand Janes said. “He just made a big shot for us. It was just Miles making a big play like he’s done all year.”

Junior Gage Yardley also had 14 points for the Wildcats.

For Manti, Frischknecht led with 17 points, and seniors Hunter Stevens and Jessen Barton respectively added 12 and 10 points. The Templars shot just 2 of 11 from the 3-point line.

The Wildcats secured the Region 12 title this season in large part because they swept Manti during the regular season.

“It’s a confidence booster anytime you can win that first one,” Janes said. “It’s always a tough game for us when we play (Manti).”

Richfield was the first team to go on a significant run with a 9-0 run in the first quarter capped by a 3-pointer from Griffin Wayman.

The Templars whittled the lead down at halftime to trail just 32-31 going into the locker room, and when they came out, the 3-point shooting finally started to land as a triple from sophomore Carter Mason, got Manti its first lead of the game since making the first basket.

After that, however, the Wildcats responded with a 7-0 run and never gave the lead up again.