High school basketball: Olympus pulls away to defeat Box Elder

Holding Box Elder scoreless for the final four minutes of the game enabled Olympus to pull away for a 50-36 nonregion victory Friday night.

Will Watkins scored 16 points, including the go-ahead three-point basket, as Olympus scored the game's final 16 points.

Obviously, the game was closer than the score indicated. Olympus led most of the contest, but the Bees rallied behind the inspired play of guard Cody Eyre to take a 44-39 lead going into the final quarter.

"We played a good game. We limited them, and they're a legitimate 70-point run-and-shoot team," said Box Elder coach Keith Mecham.

Olympus was a hot-shooting team last season, but this year's team hasn't looked as promising yet. Sharpshooter Nicholas Paulos has been hampered by an illness, and the team has yet to show the same marksmanship.

But the Titans scored the first four points of the fourth quarter and regained the momentum, forcing Mecham to quickly call a timeout. It didn't help.

"It is a gutty win," said Olympus coach Matt Barnes, whose Titans improved to 3-0.

Barnes, of course, was more concerned with Oly's third-quarter problem, an eight-minute time frame during which Box Elder outscored the Titans 14-7. He noted that his team has had trouble immediately after halftime in each game this season, although that was only evident the last two games.

The Titans erased Box Elder's lead quickly, forcing five fourth-quarter turnovers. Watkins, Connor Brady, Manny Riak, Joe Bourne and Spencer Harris each scored to put the game away.

Box Elder didn't score the last four minutes of the game. Eyre, who led the Bees with 13 points, hit some amazing shots early, but ended up 6-of-14 from the field because he always seemed to have a hand in his face in the fourth period.

The Bees' leading scorer, Brant Mecham, also was handcuffed but for the entire game. Mecham, the team's leading scorer last year, whiffed on all 12 of his shots Friday. His only points came on three free throws.

"We did a nice job on him. He lit us up last year," noted Barnes. "We really did turn up the defense in the last quarter."

Keith Mecham noted that, too. He said once Watkins' big trey gave Oly a 39-36 lead, his team also played differently.

"We were trying to put them away too early," he said. "Once Watkins hit that shot, we kind of panicked."

Box Elder was also forced to foul, and Olympus, which hit just 13-of-22 free throws for the game, made most of them down the stretch.

Brady backed up Watkins with 15 points and Riak, who started in place of Paulos, had 10. Justus Brown and Chad Talbot had six points each for Box Elder. Talbot also had a game-high nine rebounds.