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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 — An unlikely shot capped off an unlikely upset.
With an overtime, off-center, banked in 3-pointer by Bennett Hullinger, the Springville Red Devils upset the Woods Cross Wildcats by a score of 51-50 in the Dee Events Center Thursday afternoon to qualify for the 4A semifinals.
"It feels unreal, really," Hullinger said after the game. "I can't explain it."
Bennett Hullinger hits the game winner for Springville in OT. Red Devils advance 51-50 over Woods Cross. @SHS_RedDevils#KSLsportspic.twitter.com/PCbUVn2Rv9 — Matthew L Glade (@matthewLksl) March 2, 2017
Ironically, Hullinger had a better look at a game-winner at the end of regulation. "I thought that one was going in," he said. "That was a better chance than the last one."
The shot capped off an impressive effort from the Red Devils. While they were outclassed on the offensive end, Springville's superior defense held Woods Cross, which has a 22-3 record and averages 70 points per game, to just 50 points in an overtime contest.
The rebounding was a major key. Springville ended up with 18 offensive rebounds in the game compared to just 14 defensive rebounds for Woods Cross. That allowed Springville to keep the ball and play the game at the slowdown tempo that they prefer.
"It's really based off of our offense. If we have great movement, we know when guys are going to shoot the ball and we can go crash," Springville head coach Justin Snell said. "We offensive rebound over 40 percent of our missed shots on the season as a whole. It really has to be who we are because on a lot of nights, we don't shoot great."
"Sometimes our best offense is a good miss," Snell said.
Trevin Knell, a University of California recruit, scored 28 points on 8-of-14 shooting for Woods Cross. Andrew Slack led the Red Devils with 15 points, followed by Josh Elison with 14 points.
But in the slowdown game, it all came down to one shot.
Springville moves on to play the winner of Highland and Hillcrest at 5:50 p.m. in the 4A semifinals at Weber State Friday.
