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IN THE GYM — Wasatch Academy didn't get its season off the ground in the most impressive way with a loss to 2024 top-rated recruit Cooper Flagg and Montverde Academy last week at 5 for the Fight Hoopfest in Pleasant Grove.
But for the second year in a row, the Tigers (3-2), the top-10 rated boys basketball team from Mount Pleasant that eschews Utah High School Activities Association play in exchange for the national Nike EYBL Scholastic circuit, pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the season.
It's early, but Wasatch Academy boasts arguably the biggest upset of the high school basketball season so far with Saturday's 75-73 win over Columbus (Miami, Fla.) at Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta.
Five-star junior Isiah Harwell, the 6-foot-5 scoring wing from Pocatello, Idaho, who rates No. 9 nationally in the ESPN 60 class of 2025, made a pair of free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining as part of a 15-point, four-rebound performance to clinch the win for Wasatch.
Montana-born Fischer Brown's fourth 3-pointer of the game gave the Tigers a 3-point lead with a minute remaining before Harwell sealed the win from the free-throw line.
"It was a great team effort, because it some point in the game, somebody else got hot," Wasatch Academy coach Paul Peterson said. "We didn't rely on just one person. Being able to know we can win a big game was big for the boys; only Isiah has experienced this from last year. Now this team knows that we can beat anybody and win the big game."
Harwell has a top-nine recruiting list of Alabama, Baylor, Cal, Gonzaga, Houston, Texas, UCLA, North Carolina and hometown Idaho State.
Columbus, which was ranked No. 1 nationally by MaxPreps, was led by twin brothers Cameron and Cayden Boozer, the sons of former Jazz forward Carlos Boozer. Cam Boozer, the reigning national player of the year by MaxPreps, had a game-high 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
But it was Wasatch wing Bhan Buom — the 6-foot-8 Nebraska native who transferred to the Sanpete County boarding school for his senior season — who dazzled against the Explorers with a team-high 19 points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Tigers shot just 38.7% from 3-point range, but held Columbus to 20.8% with 13 turnovers.
Lincoln, Nebraska native Bhan Buom @BhanBuom put everyone on notice with his performance in a win against Nationally Ranked Columbus HS (FL) at @HHoopsgiving
— DTP Entertainment (@dtpent1) November 28, 2023
Buom finished with 19 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST #thefutureisNOW#DTP#hoopsgiving#bhanbuom#wasatchpic.twitter.com/DiflKvc4yv
It's the second year in a row that Peterson's side has upset MaxPreps' No. 1-rated team after last year's win over AZ Compass Prep. The two teams will face a rematch Friday.
