High school basketball: Pizza delivers in a big way in Soaring Eagle victory

SALT LAKE CITY — Ajay Pizza couldn't wait for the final seconds to tick off the clock before celebrating.

The Juan Diego star guard dribbled away from Judge Memorial's defense, smiled, pumped his fist and threw the ball in the air just before the final buzzer sounded. It may have been more of an act of relief than excitement, as Pizza and the Soaring Eagle finally beat their nemesis, edging past the Bulldogs with a 40-36 win Wednesday night.

It was the first time Juan Diego won at Judge in school history, and it snapped a five-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.

"Finally got the monkey off our back," Pizza said. "We worked hard for it. It was a good victory."

Past Juan Diego teams may not have been able to pull off the road upset. The Soaring Eagle built a double-digit lead in the second quarter, and watched the Bulldogs slowly chip away at it. But thanks to some key baskets from Pizza and consistently strong defense, Juan Diego never let Judge pull even.

The Soaring Eagle opened the second quarter on a 14-0 run, holding Judge scoreless for more than four minutes. The Bulldogs rallied in the third quarter, putting together an 8-2 mini-run to get within three points.

Pizza and his team's defense answered. Pizza hit a basket to give Juan Diego a 31-26 lead, and the Soaring Eagle held Judge to one point on its final six possessions of the period.

"I think we're much stronger than we've been," Pizza said. "We can withstand runs and go on runs. I think we're a strong defensive team."

The Soaring Eagle had to be in order to defeat the Bulldogs. Juan Diego scored just 13 points in the second half, but seemed to get them at key moments. After Judge got within a point early in the fourth quarter, guard Morgan Hesleph made a layup and a 3-pointer to stretch it back to six.

The Bulldogs' final threat came when Will Whitt scored on a putback to make the score 38-36. Pizza responded on the other end, making an off-balance runner with 1:40 left to give Juan Diego its winning margin.

"We just had to pull together as a team," Pizza said. "We were kind of individualistic as a team during the preseason, and we stressed coming together as a team and playing defense and we did that tonight."

Coach Sonny Tangaro also stressed that his players had to actually believe they could beat Judge in order to do it.

"It's nice to beat Judge," said Juan Diego forward Logan Mortenson, who made a key basket in the fourth quarter and finished with eight points. "It's hard to go into their gym and get a win. It feels really good."

Pizza scored a game-high 15 points to lead Juan Diego and Hesleph had 12 points. Zach Myaer kept Judge in the game with 12 points and three 3-pointers, and center Will Whitt had 11 points.