PLEASANT VIEW — A cursory glance at Utah boys basketball standings might make it look like Layton High is running away with things in Region 1.

The Lancers are hard to stop but have been challenged often in their run to 20-plus wins, taking all eight one-possession or overtime games they’ve played this season.

Make that nine.

The Lancers survived a three-headed Weber monster and pulled down key offensive rebounds to hold off the Warriors 77-74, handing the outright Region 1 title to Layton (21-1, 9-0 Region 1).

It’s Layton’s first region title since taking 5A Region 2 in 2017.

“It’s just a testament to our team. We know how to win games. It’s a tough region and we know going into every game, every team is going to give us their best,” Layton senior guard Mekhi Martin said. “It feels good to get a championship out of Region 1, because it’s tough.”

Martin led Layton with 22 points, hitting five 3-pointers. Dave Katoa added 21 points and KJ Miller scored 17.

For Weber (15-7, 5-4), Malachi Spencer poured in 27 points, Hunter Schenck 24 and a clutch Jordan Oberholtzer added 20 points.

The Lancers took a 10-point lead immediately out of halftime, but a Weber 9-0 run led to a tie game less than three minutes later. The margin was never larger than four points in the final 13:40 of game time — and there were five ties and 10 lead changes in that same stretch.

In crunch time, Oberholtzer hit two of his four 3-pointers. One gave Weber what was ultimately its final lead in a rally where the lead changed hands every possession, putting his Warriors up 68-67 with 3:20 left.

One minute later, Miller drained a deep 3 for the game’s final lead change, a 71-68 Layton advantage.

Katoa banked in a tough drive at the block over perfect defense from Weber’s Tyler Payne to create cushion before Oberholtzer’s final triple made it 73-72 with 1:22 left. Katoa banked home a 17-foot pull-up, then Oberholtzer scored in the paint but missed a free throw that would have tied it, making it 75-74 with 40 seconds left.

After a thrilling run of big shot after big shot, the Lancers won the game on the glass.

Layton’s Jonah Fullmer hauled down a missed Miller 3 from the corner, ultimately missed two free throws, then Sam Romer scrapped to get the ball back off Fullmer’s second miss.

Romer hit his freebies for the final margin, 77-74, with 15.2 seconds remaining.

Layton opted not to foul and, out of a frontcourt Weber inbound, trapped Schenck and forced a throwaway pass out of bounds to end the game.

“We find a way to win,” Layton coach Kelby Miller said. “We have several guys who come up clutch for us … but Sam Romer with the big rebound, Jonah Fullmer with the big rebound, those things all matter just as much as the shots.”

Out of halftime, KJ Miller scored a backcut layup to put Layton ahead 45-35 and it seemed the Lancers might have weathered Weber.

But the Warriors were far from done. Payne hustled for an offensive rebound that led to an Oberholtzer 3, Schenck hit a jumper, and Oberholtzer confidently splashed home a pull-up triple to tie the game 46-46 with 5:15 left in the third.

Weber took its first lead at 50-48 on Schenck free throws, Layton took the lead right back on a KJ Miller and-one drive, and the battle was on.

Layton looks ahead to another tough matchup, hosting Fremont to close the regular season in its last attempt to gain 6A’s No. 1 tournament seed.

And the consensus was clear after Tuesday’s matchup: Region 1 thinks it will have something to say come state tournament time.

“Region 1, no one wants to play come playoff. I don’t think anyone’s going to want to play us,” Schenck said. “Lost a close one tonight, but it’s Layton, they’re No. 1 in the state … Jordan showed a lot tonight, he shows up in close games and come tournament time, we’re going to keep doing this.”

“Playing guys like Jordan, Hunter, Malachi Spencer,” Layton’s Martin said, “we have to play those guys, have to get through them to get to the state championship … our region is tough, we have supreme confidence and we’ve got to be ready for anyone.”

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