North crashes the boards to lift Viewmont to overtime victory

BOUNTIFUL — You could say that Viewmont senior Eric North was in the right place at the right time.

That may be true, but in order to score the winning basket in the Vikings' 52-51 overtime win over Syracuse on Tuesday night, North was executing something that's emphasized in practice every day: crashing the boards.

With time winding down in overtime, North rebounded a teammate's miss in the paint. Surrounded by teammates and defenders, North scored on a putback from about 5 feet out as time expired to give Viewmont a dramatic victory.

"I just crashed," North said. "It ended up in my hands and I finished it. It was just instinct."

North was Viewmont's unlikely hero, and his basket clinched an unlikely win for the Vikings. They allowed Syracuse to shoot an incredible 79 percent in the first half, and 6 for 7 from 3-point range. The Titans built their lead to 16 early in the third quarter before the halftime speech by Viewmont coach Jeff Emery sunk in to his players.

He didn't draw up one 'X' or one 'O' during the break. He instead reminded his players who they are and what's made them successful this season. When the Vikings play hard, play defense and rebound, they're a tough team to beat.

"The first half we were on our heels," Emery said. "Our defensive mindset just wasn't good that first half. I thought we were soft in every way, shape and form."

The Vikings' defense did a 180 in the second half. After allowing Syracuse to score 33 points in the first half, Viewmont held the Titans to 10 points and four field goals in the second half. A 14-2 run that included a 3-pointer by Sennett Fraughton and a three-point play by Blake Wilkinson got the Vikings within four by the end of the third.

"I just thought we played harder," Emery said of his team's improved play in the second half. "We got after it. The adjustment was, 'Hey, let's get back and play the way we need to play' and these guys responded."

Viewmont took its first lead since the first quarter when Coulsen Wright drained a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to put the Vikings up 43-42. The Titans' Tyler Phelps answered with a free throw to tie the game and send it into overtime.

The Titans overcame a four-point deficit in the final minute, and took the lead with 21 seconds left when Jaxon Reid buried a 3-pointer — his second in overtime. The shot gave Syracuse a 51-50 lead. The Vikings struggled to get a quality shot off on their final possession, but luckily for them, North was there to clean up the trash in the paint and score the winning basket.

"He happened to be the guy in the right spot and made the play," Emery said. "And gosh dang I'm happy for it."

Viewmont improved to 6-3 in Region 1 and 9-5 overall. Syracuse fell to 4-5 and 6-8.

Wilkinson had a double-double for the Vikings with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Wright had 14 points and Fraughton had 10. North, the game's hero, had six points and a team-high five assists off the bench. Nick Winegar led Syracuse with 18 points, and Wade Rasmussen had 12 points off of four 3-pointers.

e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com