The 3rd time is (not usually) the charm

The rhetoric can be heard and read every time it happens.

When two league rivals play each other in the postseason after one of them swept the regular-season series, fans, coaches, players and media types all say the same thing:

It's tough to beat a team three times in one season.

They'll say the team that previously lost twice to an opponent during the regular season now has some kind of advantage. They'll be motivated by revenge and their experiences in falling short will give them the answers on how to get over the hump this time.

But as this year's state basketball tournaments showed, maybe three-sweeps aren't all that difficult.

There were seven postseason basketball games involving matchups in which one team defeated an opponent twice during the regular season. Six teams that won twice during the regular season went on to win the third contest, and usually comfortably. The Manti boys team, the Class 2A champions, was the only two-time loser to win the third meeting against a team, as it defeated Richfield in the semifinals.

There was one instance of two teams playing for the fourth time in the 1A championship game and the result never changed. In that title contest, Escalante defeated Piute for the fourth time this season.

The three-time winners were the Judge boys (defeated Uintah and Wasatch), the Wasatch girls (beat Judge), the Mountain Crest boys (swept Woods Cross), the Timpview girls (defeated Springville) and the Piute girls (beat Panguitch).

"Back when we'd have our region tournaments, I used to hear all the time how hard it was to beat a team three times in a season," said Manti coach Mark Hugentobler. "My answer was always, 'That's not true.' Usually, when it happens (the two-time loser wins the third game) it makes headlines, so everyone hears about it."

Roger Pyper, who coached the Wasatch girls to the only unbeaten basketball season in the state this year, said high school basketball games are usually decided by talent and matchups. The Wasps defeated Judge Memorial in the championship game for the third time this season, in a game where the two teams' talent level wasn't all that different.

"Talent level is usually the difference whether you're playing for the third time or fifth time in a season," Pyper said.

The Wasps had an important advantage over the Bulldogs, as they were more experienced. Their players were older and were more accustomed to playing in big games.

Pyper said you also can't underestimate the confidence a team has when it plays an opponent after already defeating it twice in the same season.