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Show Braves win 3-A consolation championship Beat Farmers, 72-65, in tournament finale A v I f k A " By GARY BLODGETT Sports Editor OGDEN - Bountiful High's Braves romped to an early lead and then coasted to a 72-65 win over Granite and won the consolation championship of the State Class 3-A Basketball Tournament. The tournament concluded Saturday Sat-urday at the Weber State College Dee Events Center with Emery emerging as the 3-A champ after winning the Class 2-A title last year. Bountiful' s victory gave the Braves a sixth-place finish in the four-day toumey after losing the first game to Box Elder. Granite placed eighth. The Braves dominated the game against Granite by jumping to a 20-10 20-10 lead at the close of the first period and maintaining that 10-point 10-point margin, 36-26, at intermission. intermis-sion. Bountiful increased its lead to 15 points, 49-34, at the close of the third period. Granite countered in the final stanza with a full-court press which gave the Braves considerable trouble, although the Braves have a trap defense of their own which is very effective. Bountiful 's turnovers and missed shots together with Granite's pressing defense and break-away offense allowed the Farmers to cut the margin to four points three minutes into the final quarter. Kelly McGrath, 6-foot 5 center, was the stalwart of the Granite fourth-quarter offense as he repeatedly connected with layups and short jumpers. He also hit 5 of 6 from the foul line and a game total of 19-22 19-22 from the charity stripe. Bountiful went into a skid early in the fourth quarter when Granite hit 17 points while the Braves couk manage only seven. At one point midway in the period the Farmers narrowed the margin to three, 56-53. 56-53. But the Braves recovered with foul shots by Mark Hayes and a fast-break layup (off a steal) and a pair of charity tosses by Austin Lindsey. Matt Walton hit two driving driv-ing layups, and Hayes connected on a short jumper to move the Braves back into a comfortable lead. It was a team victory and a great tournament finish for the Braves, who entered the toumey as a fourth-place team from Region Six. It was also a gratifying tournament tour-nament for first-year coach Mike Maxwell. "It was a big win, a great tournament,' tour-nament,' said a jubilant Coach Maxwell. "The kids have come a long way and battled their hearts out right to the end. We deserve this consolation trophy after losing a close game to Box Elder in the (toumey) opener. Bountiful moved into the final toumey game by virtue of a one-point one-point victory over Carbon on Friday afternoon. Senior center Jeremy O'Brien was the hero of that game when he tanked a last-second twisting layup as the buzzer sounded, giving the Braves a 61-60 win over the Dinosaurs. Carbon took a 60-59 lead on a pair of clutch foul shots by Curtis Cook with 1:03 left on the clock. After Bountiful missed a field goal attempt, the Dinos threw the ball out of bounds, giving the Braves new life with only 14 seconds left. Bountiful missed a driving layup, and a jump ball was called on the rebound with three seconds remaining. remain-ing. Ball possession went to Bountiful Boun-tiful under the Braves' basket Bountiful's Jon Peterson (white) and unidentified Granite player argue over loose ball in consolation championship game. Braves won, 72-65, to place sixth in State Class 3-A State Tournament played at the Weber State College Dee Events Center. Both teams represented Region Six, and the tourney trip was a bonus for first-year Braves' coach Mike Maxwell. A quick comer shot on the in-bounds in-bounds pass was off the rim, but O'Brien hauled down the rebound and went back up with a twisting layup. The ball was off the backboard as the buzzer sounded. The shot was good, and the Braves had earned a berth in the consolation championhsip game. Usually a fast-starting team, the Braves were a little cold in this game and fell behind 17-8 at the close of the first quarter. But Jon Petersen, Mark Hayes and Matt Walton began to find the range, and the Braves took a 23-20 lead at intermission. Aaron Roderick canned two 3-point 3-point shots one at the half and the other at the close of the third quarter to keep the Braves in contention. After leading by four points at the end of the third period, Carbon knotted the score at 56 and then took the lead, 58-57, with 3:20 left in the game. The lead then changed hands twice before the Dinos took the lead for the last time. |