SLIDESHOW: Davis vs West Jordan
OGDEN -- It was a twofer celebration Wednesday.
With a 59-52 victory over defending state 5-A champion West Jordan in the Dee Events Center, Davis High coach Jay Welk pocketed his 300th career win -- the Darts advanced to the 5-A semifinals for the third straight year and fourth time since the 2005-06 season -- and Welk's wife, Luann, celebrated her birthday.
"Getting 300 wins has never been a focus of mine; it's not a big deal to me," said Welk, who is 300-200 in 20 years with the Darts. "The big win is always the next one."
Despite kissing off a 15-point, second-quarter lead and having the Jaguars close within two points with 59.4 seconds remaining, five-time defending Region 1 champion Davis secured its season-best 13th consecutive victory behind 7-of-8 fourth-quarter foul shooting.
"We have shown that consistency, hitting free throws late in games," Welk said. "It's a tough situation playing Tuesday and coming back not even 24 hours later. The kids have developed that mental edge and don't get rattled. We need to play smarter at times, but they're extremely coachable."
Senior point guard Kyle Smith scored 10 of the Darts' 15 fourth-quarter points, converting 6-of-6 free throws. Davis (21-2 overall) led wire-to-wire against West Jordan, and tangles with Copper Hills (16-8) on Friday at 2:15 p.m.
"It was scary, being the same score as last night (versus Jordan)," Smith said. "The toughest part is getting yourself motivated. You're tired, both mentally and physically. We knew we needed not to overlook them; West Jordan is a good team."
Davis shot 47.6 percent (20-of-42) -- 35.3 percent (6-of-17) on 3-point attempts -- and outrebounded the Jaguars 40-33.
West Jordan (15-8) scored 14 points off 14 Darts' turnovers, and outscored Davis 32-30 in the second half.
"I'll take a win," said the 18-year-old Smith. "The tournament is a tough environment to play in. It's kind of nice to knock them out after they knocked us out last year (with a 51-41 semifinal-round victory in West Valley City's E Center on March 6, 2009).
"They rushed us a lot in the half-court trap and we didn't take care of it very well," Smith said. "The ball is good in anybody's hands, but we want the ball in a guard's hands."
Davis committed six fourth-quarter turnovers, leading to five Jaguars' points.
"We knew the half-court trap was coming," Welk said. "We got off to a good start and got a lead. But we need to play without fouling, so fouling doesn't dictate substitutions."
The Darts' Tallon Burton scored a team-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting with seven rebounds, playing only 17 minutes because of foul trouble. Smith finished with 12 points, seven boards and five assists in 32 minutes. Landon Horne had 11 points and eight rebounds and Josh Van Weezep added 10 points for Davis.
"We stress playing good defense and holding the shooting percentage down," Smith said. "I'm frustrated with the six turnovers and don't like having them."
Sophomore Jordan Loveridge splashed in a game-high 20 points, hitting 8-of-18 shots, with a game-high nine boards for West Jordan, which shot just 30.0 percent (18-of-60). The Jaguars were 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from 3-point range.
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