Boys basketball: In front of huge crowd, Davis hangs on against Farmington in 1st-ever meeting
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- Davis guard Rex Sunderland (13) keeps the ball away from Farmington guard Collin Chandler (24) on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, at Davis High School in Kaysville. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Farmington center Tyler Larson (44) challenges Davis forward Maxwell Painter (25) at the rim on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, at Davis High School in Kaysville. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- The Davis student section holds up phone flashlights in a darkened gym before a boys basketball game against Farmington on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, at Davis High School in Kaysville. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Davis guard Rex Sunderland (13) surveys the floor against Farmington on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, at Davis High School in Kaysville. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Davis guard Rex Sunderland (13) rises to the rim as Farmington’s Paul Beattie (42) follows on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, at Davis High School in Kaysville. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Farmington forward Paul Beattie (42) rises to shoot as Davis forward Max Painter (25) looks on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, at Davis High School in Kaysville. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Farmington forward Cole Johnson looks to pass against Davis on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, at Davis High School in Kaysville. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Farmington’s Devin Day (23) dribbles as Davis’ Tate Garff (1) looks up court on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, at Davis High School in Kaysville. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Farmington’s Devin Day (23) dribbles the ball as Davis player Tate Garff (1) pursues from behind on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, at Davis High School in Kaysville. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
KAYSVILLE — The couple thousand people that packed into Davis High’s gymnasium Friday night might not have had the best basketball game to watch from a numbers and aesthetic standpoint, but everyone got their money’s worth in terms of entertainment and sheer atmosphere.
Farmington rallied from a double-digit, second-half deficit, but Davis held on at the end and watched a buzzer-beater attempt miss as the Darts beat the Phoenix 46-43 in front of a standing-room-only crowd that created one of the best basketball atmospheres in two years.
It was harder to call two schools rivals before they ever even met in basketball, but the decibel level in the gym quickly lent serious weight to what could likely be a very feisty rivalry for years to come.
Both student sections were overflowing 30 minutes before tipoff, both were at full throat for the boys junior varsity game that was decided by single digits, both jeered at each other repeatedly during halftime.
Both Davis (13-0, 2-0 Region 1) and Farmington (6-6, 1-1) struggled to shoot or hold onto the ball, particularly in the first half when they combined for 14-of-41 (34.1%) shooting, 33 points and 16 turnovers.
The key stretch came in the third quarter when Farmington led 21-15. Davis went on a 19-2 run spanning most of the third quarter and the early part of the fourth to go ahead 34-23.
The key player in all of that was Davis sixth man Sawyer Cottrell, who made four consecutive 3-pointers en route to a 14-point night on 5-of-8 shooting.
“(We) made some adjustments at halftime. Sawyer came out and hit some shots which were huge for us, and got us going a little bit,” Davis coach Chad Sims said.
Slowly, Farmington whittled down the lead to nine, then seven, then six, then four, then three, then one — and then it was tied 42-42 with less than a minute left.
Rex Sunderland (11 points) made two free throws to put the Darts up 44-42 with 29 seconds left, then split a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to make it 46-43.
Standout guard Collin Chandler then had the ball for Farmington’s last possession but was stopped on a drive at the 3-point line by Henry Ihrig. He passed to Paul Beattie, whose 3-pointer hit the rim and bounced into the hands of Davis guard Colby Sims (12 points) as the buzzer sounded.
Chandler shot 6 of 12 from the field, led the Phoenix with 15 points and took over late in the game, making two ridiculous fall-away jump shots to keep Farmington within touching distance. He also made an off-balance 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer that gave FHS a 19-14 halftime lead.
“I thought we were mentally tough in the second half, it would’ve been really easy to fold and I thought Sawyer made some big plays in the third quarter that finally got us going,” Chad Sims said. “Credit Farmington, they’re really good.”
Devin Day shot 6 of 10 for Farmington and scored 13 points, Beattie had 10 rebounds and the Phoenix shot 42.2% from the field, slightly better than Davis’ mark of 41.2%.
The teams shot a combined 50% from the free-throw line and had a combined 26 turnovers. It wasn’t the prettiest game and Chad Sims chalked a lot of that up to nerves. The Darts themselves opened the game with four straight turnovers and didn’t score until there was 3:26 left in the first quarter.
“Both teams wanted to perform really well, and you get into that environment, there’s some pressure on you. If you think about it, these kids even last year though they had a season, there wasn’t anyone in the stands,” Sims said. “To have that type of atmosphere, most of them have never experienced it.”