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SALT LAKE CITY — Entering Friday’s game with 14 consecutive wins, the Lone Peak Knights extended their streak to 15 after beating the Layton Lancers 82-47 in the Class 6A semifinals.
Heading to the title game for the second straight year and for the sixth time in eight seasons, Lone Peak will look to avenge last year’s 49-42 loss to Bingham on Saturday at the Huntsman Center.
“It’s gonna be a dogfight,” Lone Peak coach David Evans said of the forthcoming matchup against Pleasant Grove, which defeated Copper Hills 57-42 in the other semifinal earlier Friday and lost by a combined five points in their two earlier matchups against the Knights this season. “We gotta hit our shots, we gotta play great defense, and we gotta worry about (Matt) Van Komen.”
Chantry Ross, who is set to become a Westminster Griffin after high school, led all scorers with 17 points, while Steven Ashworth, who drew a black eye during a collision in the second quarter, added 16 points — 12 in the second half despite having his vision compromised by the shiner.
“I decided that I should be out here for my guys,” Ashworth said of his decision to return to game action. “That factor that we’re all in this together and that we’re gonna get it done.”
The second quarter began with a 14-8 run from the Lancers after Lone Peak doubled Layton’s scoring output in the first quarter (20-10).
But then with the score at 28-24, Ross knocked down a pair of free throws before stealing the ensuing inbounds pass, from which he spun and finished in traffic to earn his 15th and 16th points, handing the Knights a 32-24 lead.
Shortly thereafter, Ross twice drove and passed to a diving Jackson Brinkerhoff (11 points, four rebounds), first with 46 seconds remaining in the opening half, and then again seconds later, when Brinkerhoff completed a 3-point play to extend the Knights’ lead to 37-26 just before halftime.
“He started the game out on fire,” Evans said of Ross. “He came out with a bang.”
Holding a double-digit lead at halftime, the Knights kept their foot on the gas in the final 16 minutes. A dizzying succession of plays began with Max Brenchly (10 points, 15 rebounds) attacking a closeout for a driving layup, then Ashworth hit a jumper before nearly cresting, with Jaxon Pollard (seven points, six rebounds) sinking an uncontested triple late in the third quarter to give Lone Peak a 49-31 lead.
At the end, though, it was Brinkerhoff who put the exclamation point on the sequence, which came in the form of a transition dunk that widened the lead to 20, 53-33, just before the third-quarter buzzer sounded.
The Lancers’ deficit would slim to no more than 16 the rest of the way.
“When we get easy buckets, it’s kind of just the momentum for us is a big deal,” Ashworth said of his team, which has been winning by an average of 20.4 points per game this season. “When we’re all sharing the ball, I mean … when we have five guys (scoring) double-figures, that’s when we’re playing our best basketball.”
With the win, the Knights will face Pleasant Grove — a rematch of the 2014 title game — in the inaugural Class 6A state championship game at 1 p.m. MST Saturday at the Huntsman Center.
When asked what the team’s mood was like heading into another title game, Evans said, “It’s very positive right now. We’re excited. … We’re just grateful to be at this next stage.”
Dillon Anderson is studying literary journalism as a student at the University of Utah. You can follow him on Twitter @DillonDanderson.
