Salem Hills uses a huge 4th quarter to pull away from Sky View in 4A semi


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OREM — After a highly contested game through the first 30 minutes, Salem Hills struck late and defeated the Sky View Bobcats 70-60 in the Class 4A boys semifinals.

Sky View decided to run a 2-3 zone in the fourth quarter. This enabled Salem Hills to get some open threes that they were able to convert on. Salem Hills shot 46 percent from behind the arc in the game.

Salem Hills also got some dribble penetration to the basket. Salem Hills scored 32 of its 70 points in the final quarter.

Salem Hills meanwhile ran a man to man defense that focused on keeping Sky View out of the lane. Salem Hills played a few steps off of Sky View, encouraging the Bobcats to shoot. This worked well for the Sky Hawks as the Bobcats struggled to keep up with the offense of the rolling Sky Hawks.

Salem Hills also put Cole Griffin on Sky View's Mason Falslev, who had been rolling.

"I think the difference tonight in the game, was when we put Cole Griffin on Falslev, and he really struggled a lot," Salem Hills coach Jimmy Degraffenried said. "Cole Griffin at 6-foot-7 is a tough guy for him to score on, so I felt that was a difference defensively."

With 3:15 left in the game, Cole Smith of Sky View hit a right corner three, cutting Salem Hills' lead to two.

The next play, Salem Hills’ David Jones was fouled hard at the basket. He missed two free throws, but Salem Hills got the rebound. After another missed shot, Salem Hills got a rebound again. Sky View was then assessed with a personal and technical foul.

Tyson Bishop and James Nelson went on to convert on all four of their free throws, giving Salem Hills a lead that Sky View could not recover from.

"James Nelson has been a workhorse for us all year long," Degraffenried said. "He's very consistent, he makes good plays, blocks a lot of shots, does a lot of good things defensively."

Degraffenried believes that the turning point in the game happened in the third quarter when Nelson took the ball coast to coast and finished a layup at the rim as the third-quarter buzzer sounded.

This gave Salem Hills a 38-36 lead going into the final quarter; Salem Hills would never give the lead up again.

"Actually, I think the turning point in the game was when it was 36 to 36," Degraffenried said. 'I felt like once we got the lead, we were able to play more of our style of game instead of Sky View's."

Nelson finished with 33 points, seven rebounds and went 10-10 from the free-throw line. Falslev led Sky View with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Salem Hills will play in the 4A state championship game at 1:15 p.m. MST Saturday at the UCCU Center.

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