Lehi Sports
Pioneer boys stun Lancers to advance in state tourney
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The No. 13 Lehi High School boys basketball team shocked No. 4 Layton in their own gym Friday (Feb. 20) night, earning a hard-fought 51-47 victory to advance to the quarterfinal round of the 6A state tournament.
It was the biggest upset of the 6A playoffs to date. On Wednesday (Feb. 25), the Pioneers (10-13) take on No. 12 Farmington (13-11), which evicted No. 5 Davis in another second-round surprise. Their matchup is set for 9:30 a.m. at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center.
The Round 2 contest was a slugfest from start to finish with multiple ties and lead changes and a lot of rugged defense. There was never a comfortable lead for either squad as the widest margin of the night was five points.
Lehi set the tone right out of the gate as junior forward Tuk Howe won the tip and sent it to senior guard Trevor Anderson.
He gave the ball back to Howe, who drove into the paint and then kicked out to senior guard Tillman Huish wide open on the wing and he calmly swished a triple to get the Pioneers on the board just 20 seconds into the game.
The Lancer defense focused on junior guard Ashton Shewell, who was double- and triple-teamed all evening and knocked to the floor several times.
However, this left other players open, and Lehi used outstanding passing to take advantage of the gaps. The Pioneers finished with 13 assists on 17 field goals.
One of these came on Lehi’s next scoring play after the initial one. Anderson drove the baseline and sent a perfectly-timed bounce pass to Howe, who was in the middle of the key charging towards the hoop. In one motion he received the ball and flipped it into the hoop.
Long bombs were the order of the moment as the initial period continued. Howe got two of them to keep piling on the points. With 2.8 seconds left, Huish dealt an inbounds pass to Anderson, who quickly gave it to Shewell on the left outside, and he beat the buzzer with a trey to make it 14-13 for Lehi.
In the second quarter, it was Anderson’s turn to hit from beyond the arc. The score was tied four times during the period, but as the clock was running out, Shewell got a steal on the defensive end and sent it to a streaking Anderson for a fast-break layup to push the Pioneers in front 27-24 at the break.
The back-and-forth continued in the third period. The score was tied at 33-all midway through the quarter, but then senior guard Nate Rosenlof drove in for a layup and Huish passed out to Howe for his third 3-pointer of the night to give Lehi its widest lead at five points.
The Pioneers were up 39-35 entering the final stanza. However, they reached the bonus for fouls with 3:56 still to play and Layton canned four free throws in a row to take the lead at 45-43 with 2:20 left on the clock.
Howe converted his fourth triple of the night with 1:20 remaining to get the lead back for Lehi. After Anderson boarded a miss on the other end, the Lancers were forced to foul intentionally for possession.
Rosenlof made two free throws with 40 seconds left and after Layton scored, Huish added two more with 5.9 seconds to go. Anderson rebounded the final Lancer shot to seal the thrilling win, and the modest but vocal group of student fans poured out of the stands to celebrate with the team.
Howe finished the outing with 20 points and five rebounds to lead the all-team effort offensively. Despite Layton’s vigorous attempts to smother him, Shewell tallied 11 points with a critical nine boards and two assists.
Rosenlof added eight points with six rebounds and three assists. He and Anderson did a terrific job containing the key Lancer scorers.
Huish added seven points, four boards, four steals and five assists in an outstanding floor game and Anderson provided five points, three rebounds and two assists to complement his great defense.
“What a game!” said Coach Reed Bromley. “It was two teams just trying to do anything to advance. Going into the game I felt like we were similar teams. Every basket just meant so much. Layton was so well prepared. Kelby Miller does such a great job.
“We outscored them by a point or two in each of the first three quarters, which was just enough to survive and advance,” the coach said. “Neither team played their best game, but I think the battle and defensive pressure was responsible for a lot of that.
“I am so proud of my guys,” Bromley said. “Tuk scored consistently throughout the game. Ashton came through playing against multiple defenders all night and his nine defensive rebounds were so important.
“Nate and Trevor were exceptional on defense. To hold three of their starters to single digits combined was a big reason we came out on top. Tillman gets some credit for that too. There were no bigger free throws than the final two that our seniors Nate and Tillman stepped up and hit,” the coach said.
“Another big reason we won is what Isaac Smith, Griffin Reid and Decker Yeager provided with very limited minutes. When given the opportunity to play they were ready. And, in every timeout or break they were in the ears of their teammates reminding them, encouraging them, and giving of themselves.
“Tuk’s 3- pointer when we were down two was a huge play,” Bromley went on. “He’s been working so hard and just continues to improve. Unnoticed possibly on that play was Ashton Shewell wrapping off of Tuk’s down screen and taking two defenders with him. This is a team sport and I love it!”
The coach also expressed love and appreciation for his staff. “They are just the perfect balance of knowledge and experience along with a nice blend of calm and out-of-control,” he said.
“Our underclassmen prepared us so well too,” Bromley said. “They played a bigger part than they might know, and I wanted to acknowledge them. It doesn’t get any easier as we have another Region 1 opponent. We will get to work preparing for another excellent team.”
