High school boys basketball: Patience leads to Lehi win

WEST JORDAN — Things really did not unfold the way Lehi wanted or expected in the first half against Copper Hills.

The Pioneers had trouble freeing leading scorer William Walker from persistent double teams. And the entire offense seemed stuck in neutral amid a spat of turnovers and forced plays. Even with a three-point halftime lead, Lehi saw plenty of room for improvement.

The second half unfolded in a much different manner. The Pioneers used a 14-0 third quarter run to pull away from the Grizzlies with a 55-43 victory.

Walker, who along with fellow center Josh Scott notched a team-high 17 points, thought Lehi did a better job of breaking down the Copper Hills defense in the second half by relentlessly working the ball inside instead of letting the Grizzlies force the team to camp out on the perimeter.

"We just made a lot more passes and we got our guards to actually be more aggressive — which opened (things) up and took away the double teams," Walker said.

Trailing 24-21 after Copper Hills' Royal Stock took a steal in for a layup and followed with a jumper, the Pioneers came to life over the final half of the third quarter.

Scott converted a three-point play to tie the game and Walker put in a scoop shot less than a minute later to put Lehi ahead 26-24. Walker scored a couple of more layups to keep the run going and Ryan Christofferson capped things off with a three-pointer to give the Pioneers a 35-24 advantage with 1:37 left in the quarter.

The lead proved insurmountable. Copper Hills cut the lead to 46-40 when Steven Cordova buried a three-pointer off a bounce pass with 2:34 remaining in the fourth quarter. But the Grizzlies could get no closer after each team missed several free throws in the final two minutes.

Lehi coach Craig Gladwell felt like his team bounced back from a mediocre outing during the first half by embracing offensive patience and playing mistake-free ball for most of the second half.

"Offensively, we got more patient, kept our spacing better in the second half and got the ball where we wanted it," Gladwell said. "We were willing to pass out of the double teams, get the ball back and make some good plays."

Patience was not much of a virtue for the Pioneers in the first half. After jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead, Lehi let Copper Hills back into the game by repeatedly committing turnovers. The Grizzlies scored 10 points off of nine first-half miscues by the Pioneers.

It helped Copper Hills mount a 14-3 run and take a 14-10 lead on Cordova's runner in the lane with 6:32 left before halftime. The Grizzlies led 18-14 when Steven Larson scored a jumper following an errant Lehi pass with 2:15 remaining, but the Pioneers closed the half on another 7-0 run to take a lead going into the locker room.