High school basketball: Timpview edges Lehi in overtime, 56-54

PROVO — Momentum in a basketball game is clearly an intangible. Perhaps that's why it's so hard to maintain for the duration of a full contest.

Timpview discovered that Friday night when they had the momentum for almost the entire game, saw it ripped away before ultimately seizing it back in an important Region 7 56-54 overtime victory against Lehi (8-3, 0-2 Region 7).

"We controlled the tempo of the game, and (the lead) never left our hands until the end," Thunderbirds head coach Perry Wildeboer said.

After a closely-contested first quarter, Timpview (8-3, 3-0 Region 7) used an 11-2 run in the second period to fashion a 29-22 halftime advantage. They eventually built the lead to 11 early in the third quarter, but the visiting Pioneers refused to go away.

Lehi's William Walker was a beast in the middle, scoring 10 of his team's 19 points. And when the Pioneers fell behind by double digits, Walker reasserted himself by putting in 10 points the rest of the way.

In all, Walker finished with a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds.

"(Walker) is a tough kid," Wildeboer said. "We knew going in that he was going to get some of his."

But it was Walker's teammate, point guard Zach Stanley, who connected on a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the final minute to force the game into overtime.

The first trey came with Lehi down 48-43 with 46 seconds remaining. Then, after the T-Birds' Josh Warner hit one of two free throws, Stanley dribbled down and nailed a straightaway 3-pointer at the top of the key with two seconds left. Warner's half-court desperation heave fell well short.

In overtime, Lehi managed just a field goal and a free throw, while Timpview scored five points, the key shot coming when Warner drove down the middle of the key and layed it in with just over a minute to go. That shot put the T-Birds up by one before Eli Robison made a free throw to provide for the final score.

The Pioneers couldn't penetrate Timpview's solid defense on the final play of the game, failing to get off a good shot.

Lehi will not want to look at the box score after this one, with the free throw stat jumping off the page. Pioneers head coach Craig Gladwell undoubtedly wanted to pull his hair out watching his team attempt to shoot their free throws, as they connected on just 3-of-14 for the game.

"That (Lehi) is a good team," Wildeboer said. "They've got a lot going for them, so it's really important for us to win close games against a good team like that. It's good for a team's psyche."

Timpview was led by Warner's 12 points and six assists, while teammates Christian Covey and Ryan Sagers contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively. Ky Raymond had seven rebounds.

Stanley finished with 12 points for Lehi. Teammate Josh Scott pulled down eight boards.