High school basketball: Bountiful boys continue hot streak

SALT LAKE CITY – A rough start in the preseason made it appear the last of the steam had gone out of Bountiful's engine. The Braves lost five times in their first eight games and played the part of a group who might struggle just to claim a playoff spot in Region 6.

These days, Bountiful looks like its same ol' dominant self.

Behind some clutch fourth-quarter plays from junior forward Nick Williams, the Braves pulled away for a 64-57 victory over Highland on Tuesday night. Bountiful (11-5, 7-0) not only claimed a win for the eighth consecutive game, but it also stayed unbeaten in region play.

The past month and a half has seemed like a completely different season for the Braves. Their recent success, said Bountiful coach Mike Maxwell, is simply a result of his players gaining maturity.

"We told them all along by the time the league rolled around that we would be ready to go," Maxwell said. "It was just a learning process and (we told them) not to get distraught about losses in the preseason because they don't count. What counted was getting better and that's what this team did."

Williams had a hand in making sure the good times kept rolling.

Down nine points to start the fourth quarter, Highland (8-8, 3-4) opened the quarter on a 7-0 run and pulled to within 45-43 on Nate Fakahafua's layup with 6:02 left. The Rams finally tied the game up at 47-47 all after Dillon Salazar got whistled for a technical foul and Sam Orchard – who scored a game-high 27 points – drained four free throws.

That's when Williams went to work. He stole the ball and drove in for a layup to put Bountiful back ahead by two. Then, after Orchard answered on the other end with a backdoor layup, Williams put the Braves up for good when he buried a 3-pointer to make it 52-49 with 3:19 left.

Those were the defining moments in a night where he scored 22 points, collected eight rebounds and had three steals to lead Bountiful.

"I was just trying to be aggressive and help us go to the basket," Williams said. "I felt like our whole team did a great job in the fourth quarter playing team defense. Dillon did a great job of shutting down Orchard.

Bountiful did not score another field goal after that one. But the Braves did not need a basket, after knocking down 12 of 17 free throws in the final two minutes to ice the game.

For a while it seemed like Bountiful had already built enough of a cushion to put away the Rams before the fourth quarter even started.