OREM — Kearns' run to the Class 4A state final last year was overcome by joy, athleticism and phenomenal feats of former Cougar guard Bushman Ebet, who is now doing similar things at Salt Lake Community College.

Why stop there?

Nick Valles drained a 3-pointer from the edge of the midcourt logo at UVU's UCCU Center to help the Cougars come from 10-down and stun East, 51-48 in the first round of the 4A boys basketball state tournament Monday afternoon.

"I looked back at the time and just did what I had to do," Valles said. "It felt great, a wonderful feeling.

"I just feel like crying right now. As a team, we've been through so much. To come out at the end and just finish it — it's so great."

Valles finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, but also paced a frenetic fourth-quarter rally for the Cougars (18-6) that ended with his deep heave with no time on the clock.

"Every time he shoots, I'll think it's going in," Kearns coach Dan Cosby said. "It's like he has ice in his veins; it doesn't matter. He'll just shoot, and I didn't think this was going in. But it was done."

East's Dacian Spotted Elk led all scorers with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and gave the Leopards (15-8) a 44-34 on a steal-and-score just under 90 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Kearns didn't go away quietly. The Cougars start pressing midway through the fourth quarter and ended the game on a 10-2 run to upset the Region 5 runners up.

Kur Kuath posted a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, as well as six blocked shots, to pace the Cougars, who officially never led during the game. East, on the other hand, led by as much as 12 points after Spotted Elk opened the fourth quarter with a 3-point play.

The Cougars went to a press — some would say early, but Cosby said it was a little late — and executed the chaos to perfection.

"We've been down 20, and we never give up. Somebody catches fire, and you just never know," Cosby said. "Our defense stepped it up.

"Normally, we press earlier. I wanted to keep waiting, and then pull it out when we needed to."

The Leopards used a 10-2 run to end the first quarter on top, 18-9. Kearns responded with a run of its own and pulled within three at 20-17 on Valles' fast-break bucket with 4:13 left in the half. The Cougars scored the final four points of the half and ended down 23-21 at the break, after a pair of free throws from long post Kur Kuath.

East held the Cougars to nine points in the third quarter and held sharpshooting Valles without a field goal to open the second half.

The comeback came on the defensive end, including a critical jump ball forced by Valles at the start of the final minute to gain possession after the Cougars missed a pair of free throws.

"We just got together and told each other, we're going to finish off this game," Valles said. "We've got to come together as a team and take it possession-by-possession, and that's what we did."

The 6-foot-2 Valles lunged behind Spotted Elk after the 6-4 senior grabbed the rebound, and did just enough to get the ball back via a jumped ball.

"I think that was all desire," Cosby said. "He texted me at 7:30 this morning and said 'you ready, coach? I'm always ready, G.'

"He just wanted it more than anybody else."

It's not surprising, then, that Cosby drew up the final play without his shooter in mind; Valles was just 3-of-13 from the field through that point.

"I joked with them 'What happened to the screen?'" Cosby said after the game. "But Nick V is a competitor. He made some bad decisions earlier by not listening to the play. But how ironic; he still didn't listen to the play, but went and won it for us. I couldn't ask for anything better."

The gamble paid off.

"We set it up for Tayler (Marteliz), but the ball ended up coming to me," Valles said. "I just finished it off."

Blake Hansen finished with eight points, seven rebounds and five steals for East, and Ryan Hurlburt supplied six points and six boards.

Kearns advances to face Timpview in a 4A quarterfinal at 4:10 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Utah.

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TIMPVIEW 67, SALEM HILLS 55

At UVU, the Thunderbids were too much to handle in a win over the Skyhawks.

Timpview (19-5) started off the game nervous and they got down early in the first quarter to the Skyhawks 8-2. But Timpview never looked back.

"Just relax, this is how it feels," Timpview coach Kevin Santiago said. "You guys know what to do. We're here to have fun and at the end of the day it's just a game."

Whether the coach's words impacted the player's game, the 4A favorites settled down and played Timpview basketball. impview senior Forward Gavin Baxter was the leading scorer with 16 points. He added 13 rebounds; two blocks and one steal to his stellar first-round performance.

"There were a few nerves," Baxter said. "It's pretty big ya know; it's do or die."

The Thunderbirds lead got up to 16 points in the game, but the Skyhawks kept fighting back as guard Brancen Webster lead Salem Hils with 13 points and two assists.

The difference in the game was Timpview's defense. The Thunderbirds outrebounded the Skyhawks, 35-23 in the paint. The swarming defense caused Salem Hills (9-15) to have 13 turnovers in the game and they never were able to settle into their offense due to the defense.

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