4A State Boys: Seljaas, Braves rain treys in semifinal win over Orem


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OGDEN — When Bountiful’s boys basketball team starts shooting 3-pointers, the move is contagious.

In Friday night’s Class 4A semifinals at Weber State, the Braves released an infection on Orem.

Zac Seljaas scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half, including four treys, as the Braves shot past the Tigers 67-50 to advance to their second-straight championship final at the Dee Events Center.

“We’d hit one, and then the next person would hit one, and you just get that momentum,” said Seljaas, who has signed with BYU. “It makes you keep going.”

Bountiful (21-6) made 8-of-12 3-pointers in the first half, outshooting themselves from inside the arc, where they made just 7-of-16 in the opening two quarters. Seljaas finished the half draining 4-of-6 treys after being held scoreless for most of the first quarter, and his first make of the night came from downtown.

Austin Parkinson scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half, finishing the game with 6-of-10 shooting that included a healthy 3-of-5 mark from 3-point range.

“They love each other, and they look for each other,” said Bountiful coach Mike Maxwell, whose team had 12 assists on 19 made shots. “It is contagious when you start playing that way; it’s a fun way to play basketball when you share the ball. Our guys are sharing the ball. They don’t care who scores it. They just want it to be a Bountiful guy.”


We'd hit one, and then the next person would hit one, and you just get that momentum. It makes you keep going.

–Bountiful guard Zac Seljaas


Jeff Pollard added 19 points, four rebounds and three blocks for the Braves, who played 15 players after taking a 60-29 lead into the final period.

Orem’s Wilhelm Clark had 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Tigers (20-6), who got 10 points and three rebounds from Jonathan Johnson and nine points from Jake Stayner.

Richard Harward was held to six points and eight rebounds for Orem, which outrebounded the Braves 32-27 but shot just 39.6 percent from the field.

“We opened them up,” Maxwell said. “Zac is special; he’s a great player, and he’s hard to defend. You had to extend out on him, and that opened up all kinds of things. There were driving lanes, a high post open, and things we could exploit when they had to go out on Zac.”

Bountiful shot 46.8 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3-point land, including its eye-popping 66 percent in the opening half.

The Braves shook a slow start in a 58-56 last-minute win against Murray in the first round, then found themselves after an admittedly less-than-ideal performance in the quarterfinals, Seljaas said.

“We were kind of sluggish against Spanish Fork, shooting-wise, but today we knew we had to get out and do something,” Seljaas added. “We were just finishing it.”

The Braves will play Kearns (19-7) for the third time this season, this time with a state championship on the line Saturday at 3 p.m. on KJZZ and Live.KSL.com.

“Last year, we got on I-15 and went straight to the championship. This year, we had to take the scenic route,” Maxwell said. “We’ve seen all parts of Utah. We had to go here, there, lose some games, and find ourselves. But we did it.”

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