Cache Cooper scores for the Grantsville Cowboys in the 3A State Tournament Second Round at Grantsville High School on February 17. Photo/Tooele Transcript Bulletin
by Miles Shaw
The 3A State Tournament’s second round concluded with victories for Manti High, Richfield High, Emery High, Grantsville High, Morgan High, Summit Academy, Juab High, and Canyon View. These eight teams head to Southern Utah University to compete for the 3A State Championship. The quarterfinals Tip-off is on Thursday, February 23, in Cedar City.
Second Round Recaps
16 Providence Hall- 47
1 Manti- 66
Manti was just finding its footing to start the tournament by going up by just five points at the end of the first quarter. However, then the Templars drew their swords and charged to a victory by outscoring Providence Hall 51-37 in the final three quarters.
Junior forward Reggie Frischknecht put up fourteen points and dominated on the glass grabbing 13 rebounds alongside senior guard Kayson Douglas who dropped in 12 points and dished out five assists.
The six-foot-three junior looks to lead the Templars all the way to the promised land and hoist the championship trophy, but first Manti will take on Canyon View in the quarterfinals.
15 Union- 45
2 Richfield- 62
After a first-quarter scare that left Richfield trailing Union 12-10, the Richfield Wildcats clawed back and pounced on Union behind the play of sophomore guard Gage Yardley and his fellow sophomore Griffin Wayman. Wayman dropped 19 points alongside Yardley’s 11 which helped out junior guard Miles Barnett, the games leading scorer, with 21 points. The three wildcats combined for 51 of the Wildcat’s total 62 points on the way to a blowout victory.
13 Ogden- 40
4 Grantsville- 59
Grantsville senior guard Gabe Mouritsen dropped a season-high 29 points to open up the tournament for the Cowboys. Despite Ogden playing Grantsville close in the team’s previous two meetings, this time around the Tigers couldn’t escape the Cowboy’s hot shooting. Grantsville finished the night shooting 21 of 39 overall from the field.
However, the three-point shooting was a deciding factor in this one with Ogden shooting 3 of 15 for a putrid 20% from beyond the arc— compared to Grantsville knocking down 7 of 16 for a much better 44%. Mouritsen and senior guard Cache Cooper led the way with six of the Cowboy’s seven threes.
Senior guard Austin Johnson finished off his career for the Tigers with 12 points in the loss.
12 Carbon- 54
5 Morgan- 70
The Dinos ambushed the Trojans when Carbon took a surprise lead midway through the first quarter and trailed Morgan by a single point heading into the second quarter. However, it wasn’t smooth sailing for the Trojans from there as the Dinos stomped their way to a 34-33 halftime lead over their highly-seeded opponent. Senior guard Chet Anderson led the Dinos stampede and finished the night and his high school basketball career with 15 points to go along with his seven rebounds and two assists.
Morgan overcame Carbon’s offensive attack with an explosion of offense from senior guard Aiden Harris who did a little bit of everything while leading the Trojans to a win and finished the game with 24 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Senior guard Eli Bailey was Morgan’s second-leading scorer putting up 12 points, grabbing two rebounds, and dishing out two assists.
14 North Sanpete- 59
3 Emery- 72
Emery didn’t leave any room for doubt on who the superior team was in this game. The Spartans never let their feet off the gas racing out to a 38-27 halftime lead and adding another 26 points in the fourth quarter alone. Impressively four Spartans scored in double figures.
Senior guards Talon Tuttle and Luke Justice scored 17 and 11 points while junior Wade Stilson dropped an impressive stat line of 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
However, it was six-foot-seven senior center Brett Rasmussen who stole the show for the Spartans put up a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds to go along with four steals.
Third-Round Matchups to Watch
4 Grantsville vs 5 Morgan
These Region 13 rivals meet for the third time this season, but this time it’s for keeps.
The Trojans dropped both regular season meetings to the Cowboys by scores of 53-38 and 46-40.
Grantsville will look to continue on its path to its second championship game in as many seasons by knocking off the Trojans for a third time. The Cowboy’s hot shooting, especially from senior forward Gabe Mouritsen has been a problem for the opposition all season and he’ll look to keep that up. Mouritsen may also be looking at a first-team All-State 3A selection to cap off his senior campaign.
1 Manti vs 8 Canyon View
The No. 1 Templars look to continue their dominance against a Canyon View team that they beat by nearly 30 points on Jan. 4, at Canyon View. Four Templar players ended that matchup in double figures— Seniors Kayson Douglas, Lars Pogroszewski, and Dylan Anderson alongside junior Reggie Frischsknecht who nearly dropped a double-double of 15 points and nine rebounds.
But, the Falcons won’t be backing down. Canyon View’s already notched a 55-50 victory over No. 2 Richfield this season and fell against No. 3 Emery by just one point.
2 Richfield vs 7 Juab
Richfield’s riding high into this matchup after shaking off a possible scare against Union. The Wildcats defeated Juab by only three points in both team’s regular season opener 54-51
In that game sophomore guard, Yardley led the way for Richfield with 21 points while senior Barnett and sophomore Wayman were held to a combined four points. Juab’s defense will look to limit those Wildcat scorers again in the hope of pulling off an upset.
All Stats from MaxPreps.com and deseret.com/sports
3A State Tournament Championship Bracket