Springville pulls away from Hillcrest for first 4A title game appearance since 1999


3 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

OGDEN — Springville’s run in the Class 4A boys basketball tournament continued Friday as they set up a championship matchup with defending champion Olympus.

Here's how they both got there.

Springville 57, Hillcrest 45

Josh Elison scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, and Springville pulled away from Hillcrest at Weber State University.

Springville (20-5) turned a two-point halftime deficit into a 34-29 lead after the third quarter, when Bennett "Bank-shot" Hollinger dropped in two of his 15 points during an 11-1 run that helped put the Red Devils ahead for good.

Andrew Slack supplied 10 points and 11 rebounds for Springville, which will face defending 4A champion Olympus in Saturday’s state championship at 2 p.m. MT at Weber State.

Hillcrest (17-7) trailed 50-38 with 2:13 remaining when Slack went to the bench with his fifth foul.

Brox Ashby cut the lead to single digits, 52-43, on a 3-pointer with 1:18 remaining, but Springville made free throws down the stretch to earn its first trip to the 4A state title game since 1999.

Saturday’s game will mark just the Red Devils’ third appearance in a boys basketball state title game since 1984 — when former NFL quarterback Scott Mitchell was a sophomore hoopster for Springville in a title-game loss to Jordan.

Springville hasn't won a boys basketball championship since claiming the Class A state title in 1958, but have now won 15 of its last 16 games since a 63-53 road setback at Maple Mountain on Jan. 20.

Harris Davis had 11 points and six rebounds to lead Hillcrest, and John Villanueva added nine points and five rebounds.

Saturday's title game will be streamed on live.ksl.com.

Olympus 76, Corner Canyon 72

At Weber State, Rylan Jones had 21 points, six rebounds and six assists to help the Titans overcome a 25-point deficit and rally past the Chargers.

Matt Lindsay added 15 points, four rebounds and four assists for Olympus, and Jeremy Dowdell had 14 points and four rebounds.

Corner Canyon jumped out to a 23-point lead when Zach Wilson put in two of his 12 points on a runner in the lane with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.

But Jones hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Titans back within 10, 41-31 at halftime.

Lindsay then cut the lead to one, 43-42 with 6:02 left in the third quarter on a wide-open layup under the basket, and Dowdell tied the game at 49-49 on a layup with 2:30 left in the third quarter.

Spencer Jones gave the Titans a 52-50 lead with 1:41 remaining in the third, then swelled Olympus’ lead to 58-55 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter as the Titans held on for the win.

Michael Schaffner led Corner Canyon with 24 points and six rebounds, and Hayden Welling supplied 14.

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

SportsHigh School
Sean Walker

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast