4A boys high school basketball: Timpview takes OT win vs. MC

WEST VALLEY CITY — Simply put, the Timpview Thunderbirds outlasted the Mountain Crest Mustangs 59-52 in overtime Tuesday in the 4A boys basketball quarterfinals by having more players make more plays down the stretch.

"A lot of times that's what it comes down to," Timpview coach Perry Wildeboer said. "When you get an opportunity, you have to take advantage of it."

One opportunity came with 12.7 seconds left in regulation, the Mustangs leading 46-44, and Timpview's Bronson Kaufusi on the line shooting one-and-one. Kaufusi missed the first, but the ball came off the rim quickly and into the hands of T-Bird teammate Lincoln Selk. After a couple dribbles to the left, Selk let fly a left-handed fall-away 10-foot jumper from the left baseline that swished home — knotting the game 46-46.

"We missed a key free throw, but Lincoln stepped up, got an offensive rebound and made a play," Wildeboer said.

The Mustangs raced down, hoping to catch Timpview off guard, but the ball slipped out of Chandler Smith's hands and right into the hands of teammate T.J. Spidle, who was wide open under the basket. But Spidle, expecting the buzzer to sound in the split of a second, hurried the ball up, and his shot glanced too hard off the glass — sending the game into overtime.

In the overtime period the T-Birds immediately went into a spread offense, hoping to get the ball to the 6-foot-7 Kaufusi in an isolated situation in the paint. Instead, Kaufusi kicked the ball back out to sophomore guard Josh Warner, who drilled an 8-foot jumper to put Timpview on top for good.

"He gave us exactly what we needed," Wildeboer said.

The Mustangs made a game of it with a strong third quarter, and this time they added a little long-distance shooting to their inside punch. Three early buckets by Mitch Jessop cut Timpview's lead to 30-25. A couple minutes later a steal and layup by Jared Rindlisbacher made it a 33-30 game. Then, when Smith buried back-to-back threes, the Mustangs' only treys of the game, Mountain Crest led 36-35.

"I don't think we play anybody, really, that is going to be any better than Mountain Crest . . . they are a scary team to play," Wildeboer said.

With two minutes left in the fourth, a layup by Matt Stewart put Mountain Crest up 45-42. However, Timpview outscored the Mustangs 4-1 from there. And once the T-Birds had the lead in overtime they preserved it by sinking 11-of-14 free throws.

For Timpview, Raymond scored 15, Kaufusi 12, and Selk and Brockbank 10 each. Smith led Mountain Crest with 13, while Stewart and Jessop chipped in 12 and 10 respectively.

EMAIL: jimr@desnews.com