5A boys high school basketball: Alta boys wrap up Region 2 title

SANDY — The scenario was pretty straightforward for Alta on Tuesday night.

Win, and clinch the outright Region 2 boys basketball title. Lose, and drop into a four-way tie for first place, with the knowledge that the loser of the four-way coin flip faces Lone Peak next Monday in the first round of the 5A state tournament.

Clearly not fond of letting pocket change decide their fate, the Hawks came out and dominated rival Jordan from the opening tip, wrapping up the regular season with a 54-35 home victory.

"As far as the intensity goes, our kids came to play," said Alta coach Jim Barker. "That intensity I've been waiting for from this group. I think they finally get it, but now can they continue it?"

A big reason for the intensity was frustration. Alta had a chance to clinch the region title last week, but it blew a 10-point halftime lead against Skyline, exposing itself to the scary possibility of a four-way coin flip.

"We had a chance the other night to do this and had a shot at the buzzer and missed it. I think they're still steaming they didn't win that game, and I think that took their minds off the pressure of this game," said Barker.

That pressure was eased further when the 'Diggers panicked against Alta's surprising zone defense. When these teams met a few weeks ago, Alta played man-to-man defense the entire game, but Barker decided to mix things up with the zone Tuesday.

Jordan responded with probably its worst quarter of the season, falling behind 14-3 after making just 1-of-4 shots and committing eight turnovers. The 'Diggers settled into the flow of the game in the second quarter but still trailed 30-18 at the break as Nate Nielsen paced the Hawks with 10 of his game-high 15 points coming in the first half.

"Nate is a kid who wants to take big shots. He wanted to be the Taylor Brown this year," said Barker. "Probably the most satisfying thing is he's bought into the team game."

With Alta leading scorer Ammon Olsen going down with a sprained ankle in the first quarter, Alta needed a player like Nielsen to step up, even though Olsen returned in a limited capacity midway through the second quarter.

Alta has struggled to protect leads this season, so it's not entirely surprising that Jordan made a run in the third quarter, closing to 36-31 before Alta's Colman Bakker hit a jumper at the buzzer to increase the lead to 38-31.

That simple basket seemed to take the life out of the 'Diggers as they went over seven minutes without scoring a point in the fourth quarter. Alta had no such troubles, opening the quarter on a 15-0 run to pull away for good.

Alta made 10-of-11 free throws in the fourth quarter, an encouraging sign heading into the state tournament for a team that's struggled from the line all year.

With the loss, Jordan is now the sole occupant of fourth place in Region 2 and faces the daunting task of playing Lone Peak next week. Alta, meanwhile, opens up the state tournament with Weber.

E-mail: jedward@desnews.com