Lehi Sports
How the Pioneer boys earned their hoops Final 4 berth
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The No. 13 Lehi High School boys basketball team led No. 12 Farmington from start to finish and claimed a 67-59 win in the quarterfinals of the 6A state tournament on Wednesday (Feb. 25) at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center.
The Pioneers (11-13) demonstrated outstanding effort on both sides of the ball to get their hard-fought victory. They advanced to the semifinals on Thursday (Feb. 26) at 7:20 p.m. to play No. 1 Westlake (22-3). The Thunder defeated No. 8 Lone Peak 82-67 in the quarterfinals.
Lehi took care of business beginning with the opening whistle. Junior forward Tuk Howe controlled the tipoff and sent the ball to junior guard Ashton Shewell, who forwarded it to senior point guard Tillman Huish. Howe eventually got it back and converted a long 2-pointer to get Lehi on the board first.
Howe scored again following a defensive rebound by senior guard Nate Rosenlof before the Phoenix got their first basket. A bit later in the period, Huish sent up a lob pass for Shewell, who finished it with a thundering dunk to get the Pioneer fans roaring.
The Lehi student section was at least twice the size of the one representing Farmington, and those classmates of the players made their presence felt throughout the mid-morning contest in their mostly-black outfits.
Meanwhile, on the hardwood, the bucket-filling barrage continued as Rosenlof and Shewell added triples with a Howe layup in between.
With the clock running down, Rosenlof dished to senior guard Trevor Anderson on the right baseline, and he drove straight to the hoop for a layup to give the Pioneers a 21-12 advantage to finish the quarter.
The scoring was more even overall in the second stanza, but the Phoenix front-loaded theirs and made a 10-2 run in the first three minutes to pull within two points at 22-24. After a Lehi time out, the Pioneers responded with their own 10-2 run to go to the locker room with a 34-24 margin.
Shewell got into foul trouble in this contest and ended up having to spend about a quarter and a half on the bench. He’s the team’s leading scorer, but the other players filled in on both ends of the floor and continued to play without any panic.
Farmington made the next run in the later stages of the third period, but another Howe trey and a timely layup from senior guard Decker Yeager kept the Pioneers narrowly ahead. Lehi was up 50-47 entering the final quarter.
A Howe layup was followed by a Farmington 3-pointer which drew the Phoenix within two points again. Once more Lehi answered the bell with superb effort on both ends of the court.
With the crowd noise at a deafening level, the Pioneers restored the gap to double digits In less than two minutes with long bombs from Huish and Howe plus layups from Howe and Rosenlof to push Lehi back up 62-52 with 3:40 remaining.
Farmington wasn’t done quite yet. The Phoenix reduced the deficit to five points with 18 seconds left, but a Rosenlof defensive board plus Shewell and Huish free throws after intentional fouls produced the final score.
With the Farmington defense focused on Shewell and then his absence from the floor altogether, Howe picked up the offensive slack with impressive efficiency. He converted 12-of-14 (86%) from the field including three triples for 29 points plus six rebounds.
“I just took what they gave me,” Howe said. “My brothers on the team trusted me and I’m happy that I was able to come through for them.”
Huish did a masterful job of managing the game throughout and contributed nine points, five boards, six assists and two steals with no turnovers. He said the team responded to Shewell’s absence with “next player” mentality.
“Our bench guys are always ready,” he said. “When Ashton went out, we knew it was up to Tuk and I and the rest of the guys to hold down the fort. Tuk was getting open and we have big-time trust in him. We’ve come together as a team and Coach did a great job preparing us.”
Shewell finished with 13 points including a pair of treys and a perfect 5-of-5 at the line plus four boards, two steals and two assists. Rosenlof added 10 points with eight rebounds and four assists. He also guarded well throughout the contest.
Anderson provided four points and five rebounds along with fulfilling his important defensive assignments. Senior forward Isaac Smith, senior guard Griffin Reid and Yeager all gave quality minutes off the bench.
“We came out ready to play,” said Coach Reed Bromley. “We hit some big shots early and that helped set the tone for the game. When Ashton was out, everybody else stepped up. We battled on the boards and disrupted their offensive rhythm.
“We started out so hot, but then there was about a six-minute stretch when we played soft, and all of a sudden it’s a ball game,” the coach continued. “This happened last year too, but the difference was we never recovered. This time the kids learned and they grew. When we had those lulls, they responded.
“I have 100 percent confidence in calling on any of our guys whenever we need them,” Bromley said. “Our record doesn’t reflect the work this team has done. These guys have never blinked and they have never doubted. After every game, we just looked at what improvements could be made.
“The recent success we’ve been having just shows the steady progress we’ve made since the start of the season,” the coach concluded.
