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6A boys basketball playoffs: Davis just short in quarterfinal loss to Lone Peak

By Patrick Carr - Prep Sports Reporter | Feb 28, 2023

OGDEN — Down by as many as 10 points in the second half against a team that couldn’t miss an inside shot, No. 12 Davis boys basketball still found a way to manufacture a final chance at the end of Tuesday morning’s 6A state quarterfinal against No. 4 Lone Peak at the Dee Events Center.

That shot fell to Coleman Atwater, the Darts’ sophomore guard who’d made a game-winning elbow jumper in last week’s upset win at Riverton and a game-icing elbow jumper in the first round against Weber.

But at the buzzer from a full-court inbounds play, Atwater’s deep 3-point attempt fell a couple feet short and the Darts lost 54-52.

Davis trailed the entirety of the game, mostly by between 5-10 points. LP led 25-17 at halftime and held a 21-9 rebounding advantage.

The Darts had trouble guarding one-on-one and threw in a 2-3 zone occasionally, which further exacerbated the rebounding issues as getting defensive rebounds out of a zone is much harder than it is when matching up.

“I love the way we competed, I felt the kids played really hard. The rebounding came back to bite us, we just couldn’t pull down a board when we needed it,” Davis coach Chad Sims said.

Seemingly each time Davis cut the deficit down to five points in the second half, the Knights hit a tough shot in the lane against good defense.

Isaac Staley (13 points) in particular had the right touch for LP, making a tough shot for a 46-36 lead in the fourth quarter, another tough one in the lane to make it 48-39 and then an and-one for a 51-41 score amid one of the moments the majority-Davis crowd got loud.

Lone Peak shot 22 of 46 (47.8%) from the field, but was a scorching 19 of 29 (65.5%) on 2-pointers.

Finally, the Darts got the deficit down to one possession when Atwater was fouled on a drive with 21 seconds left in the game and made both free throws to cut the lead to 53-50.

“Amazing season. I love all the ups and downs we went through, practice was great. The kids competed every game, we never had to get after them,” Sims said. “I just appreciate the senior class for what they’ve given us the last 3-4 years.”

A series of fouls, free throws and inbounds plays resulted in LP’s Cameron Swiggett going to the line with 4.8 seconds left with a 53-52 lead, just moments after Staley had missed two free throws that could’ve slimmed Davis’ comeback odds and moments after Atwater had made two more foul shots.

Swiggett made the first, then LP was called for a lane violation that gave Davis a full-court inbound play. Atwater inbounded to Kaden Eggett, got the ball back, dribbled down and shot about a 24-footer that was a couple feet short.

Eggett scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting and was instrumental in keeping the Darts in the game in the second half with multiple key baskets that helped trim the deficit, multiple times, from three possessions to two.

“We all started hitting shots but it just wasn’t enough,” Eggett said. “But it was a fun season, whether or not we were picked to lose in a game, or win a game I feel like we came in with our all.”

Atwater and Alex Fisher each scored 10 points for Davis, which had 12 assists against just four turnovers. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough and another upset win this postseason wasn’t in the cards.

LP made too many tough shots, the Knights won the rebounding battle 31-20, the Darts shot 10 of 18 at the free-throw line (4 of 8 in the second half) and ran out of time to complete the comeback.

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