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(Photo: Keith Johnson, Deseret News)
RICHFIELD — It turned out the comeback cats had one more life left.
Trailing by six points with 45 seconds left, South Summit staged one more improbable rally. Levi Thompson scored three baskets in the final minute - including the game- winning jumper with 4.2 seconds left - to lift the Wildcats to a 38-37 victory over Region 14 champion Waterford in the 2A boys basketball championship game. With the victory, South Summit clinched its first state title in 34 years. The Wildcats last won a boys basketball title back in 1976 when they still competed as a 1A school.
Breaking such a long drought made it all seem more meaningful.
"It makes it even more special for our school, for our fans, our community," said junior guard Parker Anderson. "It's for our whole community."
A series of miracle plays made it all possible. The Ravens took a 37-31 lead when Christian Priskos made a pair of free throws with 45.0 seconds remaining. Thompson answered with a jumper to cut it to four with 38.5 seconds left. The Wildcats forced a pass out of bounds and got the ball to Thompson again. He delivered a 3-pointer to make it 37-36 with 24.4 seconds left.
Another quick turnover by the Ravens put the ball back in South Summit's possession. That set up for the most dramatic moment yet.
Jacob Flinders took the initial step-back jumper that clanked off the iron. The ball sailed toward Neal Monson, only to bounce off his fingertips and into Thompson's hands. At that moment, Thompson had a good look at the basket and he delivered what proved to be the game winner. Anderson sealed the victory when he stepped in front of a pass as time ran out. He credited Thompson for putting the entire team on his shoulders in the final minute and getting them just enough offense to claim victory. "Levi Thompson is the anchor of this team," Anderson said. "He'll do it all."
Thompson quickly deflected attention away from his heroics and put the spotlight on what the team did defensively in final minute.
"It was the defense at the end," Thompson said. "We all stepped it up and finished it with the (defense). We committed to ourselves we weren't going to lose."
His last three baskets redeemed a horrendous shooting night for the Wildcats. South Summit went just 12-for-46 from the field, while Waterford shot nearly 50 percent on the other end.
Wildcats coach Jerry Parker said the sporadic shooting had its roots in an energy drain brought on by the upset victory over South Sevier a night earlier.
"Our kids were trying so hard," Parker said. "They just couldn't get moving. Everything was short and off-balance. But they stayed with it. That's what they've done all year. They've stayed with it."
For a while, it appeared that offensive sluggishness would ultimately cost South Summit. Even as Monson sat out most of the first quarter after getting a bloody nose, the Ravens sprinted out to a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter behind the strong play of Eric Mika. All but four points came from Mika during that stretch.
South Summit pulled together and closed to within one when Trevor Rydalch made a running hook shot to make it 17-16 with 1:47 left before halftime.
The Wildcat rally appeared doomed in the third quarter when Judd Rydalch dislocated his knee cap and had to be helped off the court. Rydalch had tied the game at 19-19 on 3-pointer just two minutes in the quarter and suffered the injury just 20 seconds later.
It was the third time in six months he injured his knee. Losing Rydalch was a huge blow as he had been dominating the glass on both offense and defense.
But he felt confident South Summit could survive down the stretch because they had done it so many times before through the season.
"I knew my team could do it," Rydalch said. "They've won without me before."
In winning its first ever 2A championship, South Summit defeated all three 2A region champs in a three day span.
