High school basketball: Bears earn victory, nab outright title

GARLAND — Logan held Bear River's Jake Miller scoreless, limited the Bears to 22 percent shooting and looked poised to earn a share of the Region 11 title for the second straight season.

Unfortunately for the Grizzlies it was only halftime, and their one point lead was hardly insurmountable.

Once Bear River founds its shooting touch in the second half — which didn't take very long — the much-hyped region showdown quickly fizzled out as the Bears rolled to the 69-55 victory Wednesday. The win clinched the outright region title for Bear River, a year after sharing the league crown with Logan.

"Winning it outright is always more satisfying, and to be able to do it on senior night on your own floor, that's really a tribute to these seniors who've bought into everything we've taught them," said Bear River coach Van Park.

A loss would've put a lot pressure on both Bear River and Logan heading into Friday's regular season finale with identical 7-2 records. For a while, it looked like that scenario was inevitable.

Bear River shot the ball horrifically in the first half, making only 8-of-35 field goals, but thanks to 10 Logan turnovers it only trailed 27-26.

Miller, the third-leading scorer in the state at 21 points per game, was held scoreless in the opening half, which was obviously a point of emphasis at the half for Park. It wasn't so much that Miller hadn't scored, it was that none of his teammates stepped up to alleviate the pressure he faced from Logan's constant double teams.

"I challenged the kids, and said 'that's kind of a slap in the face that they don't think you guys are a threat, that Jake's the only threat,'" said Park.

Every one, including Miller, stepped it up in the decisive third quarter. With the score level at 30-30 early in the quarter Bear River ripped off an 11-0 run to open up a double-digit lead it never relinquished. Logan missed two lay-ups and five free throws during the stretch.

"Our defense was the key, we had a lot of players out there with real long arms and we were just putting on some pressure trying to keep the ball in front of us and letting them make mistakes, and I thought we did a real good job," said Park, whose team committed just five turnovers compared to 17 for Logan.

Bear River, which was led by Colton Nelson's 16 points, extended the lead to 48-33 by the end of the third quarter and was never really threatened the rest of the way. A substitute, Nelson added 13 rebounds playing increased minutes after Matt Weyland twisted his ankle early in the game.

"Some kids came off the bench that really gave us some confidence," said Park.

Justin Capener added 12 points for the Bears, which finished the game shooting 22-of-60 from the field, while Miller finished with eight points. Logan's Omar McDade led all scorers with 25 points in the loss.

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