4A STATE: Bateman leads Bruins to upset over Maple Mountain; Rams exact vengeance on Spartans

OREM — You might have expected the Mountain View boys basketball team to have been frantic ahead of its Class 4A state tournament opener against Maple Mountain.

But it wasn't a normal opener for the Bruins — in some ways, it wasn't even an opener.

Mountain View has been in the playoffs for the entire back half of Region 7 play, according to coach Alan Groves.

"For the last six games, we've had it all on the line," Groves said. "We won one game in the first half of region play, and I told them now is the time. But we also told them 'you can do it.' They believed us, they believed in each other, and that's what this time is about."

When the time came to pull ahead of the Golden Eagles one final time, the Bruins were calm as could be.

Kedrick Clayton drained a wide-open go-ahead 3-pointer, and teammate Brigham Bateman poured in a game-high 32 points and 11 rebounds as Mountain View stunned the Region 8 top-seed Maple Mountain 66-64 at Utah Valley's UCCU Center on Monday afternoon.

"All of a sudden, we've started playing basketball," Bateman said. "We started making a run. We won four in a row to get us to a play-in game, beat Timpanogos, and now we're here — for a great night."

The Bruins, who have won seven of the past nine games that includes six in a row, have felt the weight of a postseason mentality since an overtime win over Provo on Jan. 29. It was their first league win after opening Region 7 play with five straight losses.

"Most of our games in region play were pretty close. And once they got one, they just started believing," Groves said. "That's all it took; we just needed them to say 'you guys can do it.' They believed since the middle of region, and it's a credit to the kids."

Ricky Stafford supplied 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Bruins, who advanced to face Highland in a 4A state quarterfinal Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at the University of Utah.

Mountain View (13-11) came out hot, fell behind through the third quarter, then re-took the lead for good on Clayton's wide-open triple from the left angle with just over two minutes to play, and never looked back. The 6-foot-3 junior set his feet and released a dagger that dropped through the basket to give the Bruins a 58-56 advantage — their first lead since the second quarter.

Clayton added back-to-back layups on the next two possessions, including an and-one play that put Mountain View up 63-57 with 1:11 on the clock and also gave Maple Mountain quarterback star Jaren Hall his fourth foul.

"Momentum swing, right there," Bateman said. "That was a big part of the game."

From there, it was all defense. Bateman limited Maple Mountain standout Kade Poulsen to five points down the stretch with tenacious defense as the Bruins tried to "make anyone else make a game-winner."

When Bateman didn't cling to Poulsen's side on defense, the 6-foot-1 senior drained a nonchalant 3-pointer from the UVU logo at midcourt with 14 seconds left to pull the Golden Eagles within three, 65-62. Poulsen finished with a team-high 26 points, including 4 of 10 from 3-point range, for Maple Mountain (16-7).

But Mountain View held on, thanks to a double-team defense between Bateman and Jacob Holland on Poulsen that forced a jump ball in the final 8.9 seconds to clinch the win.

"I told Brigham to go get him; if we have to double him, double him," Groves said. "Make someone else hit a game-winning shot, just like other teams do to Brigham.

Mountain View opened the game on fire on 3-point range, taking a 22-12 lead out of the first quarter that feature six triples from the Bruins.

But Maple Mountain answered. The Golden Eagles opened the second quarter on a 15-2 run and took a 28-27 edge into halftime. Parker Christensen gave the Eagles their first lead of the game on a pair of free throws with 2:50 on the clock, and the Golden Eagles held the Bruins to one field goal in the second quarter in clawing back, eventually taking a 46-42 lead into the final period.

Hall finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists for Maple Mountain, which got seven rebounds from Sam Krommenhoek.

"Maple came out, a region champ, and has only lost six games all year," Groves said. "Of course they're going to come back and fight. They did a great job. But our kids really thrive off defensive pressure; that energy they get from defending full-court. It gives them confidence."

HIGHLAND 72, MURRAY 59 — The Rams tasted victory as they got sweet revenge with a win over the Spartans.

Murray defeated Highland 60-57 earlier in the season and going into tonight's game they were the favorites. But Highland never trailed in the game starting off fast and the Rams' Rick Schmidt set the tone in the big win.

"I got to give credit to our coach. He came in with a great game plan," Schmidt said. "We had time to prepare."

Schmidt had a game-high 26 points and eight assists on the night. Guard Ryan Lambson came up big for the Rams as he added 20 points. Lambson was injured in their first matchup against Murray and having him on the court this go around paid off for the Rams.

"It feels good," Schmidt said. "We've always wanted to beat Murray and it felt good to get them here in our senior season and in the state tournament."

It seemed like Highland was going to pull away from Murray, however, the Spartans cut the lead down to two points early in the first quarter and that was as close as they got all night. The Rams were well prepared this go around, forcing Murray to go inside instead of shooting the three ball. Murray struggled all game long and shot 27 percent from the 3-point line.

AJ Hodges led the Spartans with 20 points.

"Our philosophy a little bit was we will give up some two's but we don't want them to hit those open three's because they just penetrate and kick to those open shooters Zach Dickerson and Peyton Christman," Highland coach Jim Royce said.

— Montana Shaum

Related topics