Lehi Sports
Pioneer boys show progress in holiday tourney
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Lehi High School boys basketball team earned a 2-2 record at the Desert Holiday Classic in Palm Springs, California during the holiday break, with one of those losses being by a single point. The Pioneers now have an overall mark of 4-7 through a challenging pre-region schedule.
Dec. 26: Destiny Christian Academy (Sacramento CA) 73, Lehi 62
The Pioneers played toe-to-toe with the Lions during an up-tempo first quarter and led 19-18 at its conclusion, but Destiny surged in the second period and put Lehi in a deep hole. The Pioneers outscored the Lions 23-15 in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the earlier deficit.
Four players scored in double figures for Lehi, beginning with senior guard Nate Rosenlof’s 18 points shooting at 62 percent efficiency plus three rebounds. Junior guard Ashton Shewell provided a good all-around floor game with 17 points, four boards, four assists, two steals and two blocks.
Junior forward Tuk Howe netted a trio of triples and finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three steals while senior guard Trevor Anderson added 10 points and four steals. Senior guard Griffin Reid dished out four assists. The team was perfect at the free-throw line.
“Destiny Christian was a very physical team,” said Coach Reed Bromley. “They challenged us at the rim. It was a closer game than you’d think looking at the final score. Our initial defense was pretty good, but we had a hard time keeping them off the boards. We played hard and learned some things.”
Dec. 27: Eastside Catholic (Seattle WA) 68, Lehi 67
The Pioneers played a drum-tight game with the Crusaders, scoring well each period, but the designated home squad came up with one more play at the end of the contest to escape with the win.
Shewell gave an outstanding effort with 27 points including three treys plus three rebounds, six assists and two steals. Howe sank four shots from long distance and tallied 16 points plus a block.
Anderson added to the bombing with three triples and contributed 13 points, six boards and four assists. Rosenlof hit the glass hard and collected eight points and 10 rebounds. Reid made three assists. The team overall converted at a brisk pace of 53 percent of field-goal attempts.
“We have seen this team regularly over the past few years, usually during the summer,” Bromley said. “They’re very talented and big. Their starting 4-man is the No. 1-ranked tight end in the country for his age.
“Ashton was dynamic in this contest,” he continued. “One of the most impressive stats of the game was Nate’s rebounds against the girthy opponent. Isaac Smith came in and hit a big three for us. We had this game in control and there were just a couple more things I needed to do to help us win it.
“One other important point is the great job Griffin Reid did in the first two games,” the coach added. “He had constant pressure and handled it well, helping us get into our secondary offense and sets.”
Dec. 29: Lehi 82, Berkeley (CA) 77
The Pioneers prevailed against a quality opponent in the Yellow Jackets. “We had watched Berkeley beat Destiny Christian the Saturday before on a buzzer-beater, so we knew they were good,” Bromley said. “We started great and stayed strong offensively throughout. We had assists on 20 of our 26 field goals. “Ashton got to the line and converted 14-of-15,” he went on. “They had a good player get hot and hit seven threes, six in the second half, but we just answered. Trevor played great defense on their best player. This was a very solid team win.”
Shewell netted 33 points including 5-of-7 triples while Howe added 19 points with four rebounds plus four assists and Anderson scored 19 including four treys with seven boards and a pair of steals.
Rosenlof collected seven rebounds and seven assists to go with five points and a block. Smith provided six points and Reid dished out four assists and made two steals.
Dec. 30: Lehi 71, Mount Si (Snoqualmie WA) 45
The Pioneers put together what their coach called their best game of the season to top the Wildcats and finish out the tournament.
“We jumped on a very big Mount Si team with an elite high school player who will play at the next level,” Bromley said. “We ran our offense better than in any other game so far, but this game was about defense. We got stops which led to transition baskets.
“Our four primary scores all had moments where they made plays – Ashton consistently throughout, Trevor and Tuk in the first half especially, and Nate made some great mid-range, off-the-glass shots,” the coach said.
Shewell had a great all-around outing with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks. Rosenlof added 18 points and six boards while Howe finished with 15 points including three triples, three rebounds, three assists and a block.
Anderson posted eight points and senior guard Decker Yeager scored six points to go with three boards and four assists. Shewell and Rosenlof were named All-Tournament players.
Also of note, the Lehi JV team went 4-0 in the Dave and Busters JV Division of 16 teams, winning the division championship game in overtime. Sophomore guard Noah Gross was the JV tournament MVP and junior forward Karter Hartman plus sophomore guard Derek Smith earned All-Tournament honors.
The Pioneers resume play on Tuesday (Jan. 6) when they host Weber for a double-header. The girls varsity game will be at 5:15 p.m. followed by the boys varsity game at 7 p.m.
This is also Junior Pioneers Night, when youth who wear a bantam Pioneers jersey or a camp t-shirt get in free. There will be player autographs after the game.
Region 3 competition gets underway on Friday (Jan. 9) when Lehi will welcome American Fork. Varsity game times are 5:15 p.m. for the girls and 7 p.m. for the boys.
