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OREM — Juan Diego’s Jason Ricketts was unstoppable in Friday night’s 57-40 win over Orem High in the boys 4A state semifinals.
Ricketts was a load inside the post, and Orem did not have an answer for him. The lefty continued to get the ball at the high post and put the Tiger defenders in a spin-cycle in their futile attempts to stop him.
“That was the game plan: it was to pound it inside," Ricketts said. "We knew it was going to be a tough game inside, so I was trying to pound it inside as much as possible."
That’s what the Soaring Eagle did, as it only shot eight 3-pointers during the game.
To go along with their offensive play, the Soaring Eagle also shut down Orem’s offensive game. Juan Diego held Orem to 26 percent shooting, and less than 11 percent from behind the arc.
“We’re known for our defense, so trying to lock in on defense as much as possible,” Ricketts said.
Juan Diego's Lawson Roe put the game away with a transition 3-pointer with 3:30 remaining in the game. This gave the Soaring Eagle a 45-36 lead.
Meanwhile, Orem could not do anything against Juan Diego offensively. Juan Diego followed the theme of many of the teams in the state tournament by going with a 2-3 zone. The Soaring Eagle went small and quick with their zone playing the quick 6-foot-6 Ricketts in the middle.
“We really wanted to try to get out on their shooters, get out on (Ross) Reeves, and Puka (Nacua), those two guys are such great players,” Juan Diego coach Drew Trost said.
The speed of Juan Diego prevented Orem from being able to do anything while they had the ball.
Orem and Juan Diego both came into this tournament as No. 1 seeds, holding identical season records of 21-5, but Juan Diego seemed to be mentally and physically tougher throughout the entire game.
Ricketts said that his mentality coming in was, “Just to kill it, the killer mentality.”
Orem started out the game 9-2, but Juan Diego quickly closed that gap. From that point, Juan Diego outscored Orem 25-9 to close the half and take a 27-18 lead going into halftime.
“We were in a triangle and two there at the beginning, that bothered them,” Trost said. “I think it caught them a little off guard.”
Juan Diego will play Salem Hills in the state final Saturday at 1:15 p.m. MST in the UCCU Center.
