5A high school basketball: Davis goes wire-to-wire against West Jordan

OGDEN — The Davis Darts knew nothing would come easy against West Jordan in the 5A quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon.

Davis never trailed in its 59-52 victory, but it had to answer three big runs by the Jaguars to earn a berth in the semifinals for the third straight year.

Fortunately for the Darts, who will play Copper Hills on Friday, they were battle tested during the season, and they maintained their composure when West Jordan rallied.

"We just kept our poise," said Darts senior center Tallon Burton. "We hit our free throws when we needed to, hit big shots when we needed to. We did what we needed to get to the semis."

In the game's final minutes, that meant making free throws and getting a few stops. West Jordan's Jaxon Knighton scored on three straight possessions, cutting what was a 54-45 deficit to 54-52 with a minute left. Davis kept the Jaguars scoreless from there, though, with Burton and Kyle Smith making free throws to seal the win.

"West Jordan is not a team that's going to give you anything — they're going to make you work for everything you get," said Davis coach Jay Welk. "We've always competed. I like that about our kids. If there's one thing that's consistent about us, that's it."

Winning is pretty consistent, too, as the Darts picked up their 13th straight victory. They haven't lost since suffering an overtime defeat against Fremont on Jan. 8.

Burton played a big role in the Darts' win on Wednesday, scoring a team-high 17 points on 5-for-6 shooting. He also had six rebounds and two assists while playing only 16 minutes. He got in some early foul trouble and had to sit out the entire second quarter.

"I don't like sitting on the bench, especially because of foul trouble," Burton said. "But I have faith in my teammates to get the job done. I just had to be patient, I guess."

That wasn't the case when he answered West Jordan's biggest run of the game as he took matters into his own hands. The Jaguars went on a 14-0 run that was bridged by the second and third quarters, getting within a point at 29-28. Davis was ice cold from the field, so Burton began driving to the basket to draw fouls.

It worked. He got to the foul line on consecutive possessions, made four free throws and put Davis' lead back at five.

"Their big guys were a little slower than I was so I just tried to push it around them," Burton said. "My teammates looked for me and I looked for them. The game just kind of came to me today."

Burton, a first-team all-state linebacker in football, is a player the Darts can turn to in tough times.

"He's a tough kid," Welk said. "He brings that football mentality. He's so even-keeled. I appreciate that about him as a player."

Jordan Loveridge led West Jordan with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He was a difficult matchup for the Darts, and a player Welk said plays like a "third-year senior."

"He's an impressive player," Welk said.

e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com