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Farmington High's Malakai Tobler (3) and head coach Kasey Walkenhurst leap and embrace after Tobler's game-winner to beat Davis in a 6A boys basketball second-round playoff game Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Kaysville.

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Davis High's JT Turley (11) tries to block a shot by Farmington's Isaac Anderson (22) in a 6A boys basketball second-round playoff game Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Kaysville.

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Davis High's Tradon Bessinger (4) shoots a 3-pointer in a 6A boys basketball second-round playoff game against Farmington on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Kaysville.

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Davis High's Bode Sparrow drives against Farmington in a 6A boys basketball second-round playoff game Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Kaysville.

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Farmington High guard Malakai Tobler (3) sizes up the Davis defense and defender Bode Sparrow in a 6A boys basketball second-round playoff game Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Kaysville.

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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Farmington celebrates beating Davis in a 6A boys basketball second-round playoff game Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Kaysville.

ISAAC FISHER, Special to the Standard-Examiner

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KAYSVILLE — Shock, disbelief and shock again.

That’s the pattern No. 12 Farmington boys basketball took into the 6A state quarterfinals courtesy of a Malakai Tobler buzzer-beater, knocking No. 5 Davis High, the defending state champion, out of the tournament 53-50 on Friday night.

Bound for Salt Lake City, the Phoenix (13-11) will meet No. 13 Lehi, who upset No. 4 Layton with a 51-47 road win of their own on Friday, at the University of Utah.

As for Davis, ending the season 15-9 overall with a share of the Region 1 title, it’s the first time the boys program hasn’t reached the quarterfinals since 2022.

Farmington stood one stop away from winning the contest with 18 seconds left after back-to-back visits to the foul line put Farmington up two; that followed a stretch in which the Phoenix held the Darts scoreless for six-plus minutes in the fourth.

But Bode Sparrow, netting 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting and seven assists, found the rim for Davis to even things up at 50-all with 11 seconds to go.

Farmington set up shop and let Tobler roll the dice from downtown. Payday.

“It’s a dedication to their hard work,” Farmington coach Kasey Walkenhurst said of Friday’s wild finish. “They’ve stayed together all year. We’ve have some really good spurts. We’ve had some rough spurts, especially when we got to (region) play, but they’ve continued to work and they’ve continued to believe in each other and believe in the coaching staff.”

Farmington saved its best defense of the contest for the fourth quarter, where Davis struck just twice from the field for four points. The Darts, leading by as much as 12, finished just 25% from the floor in the second half as playmakers Sparrow and Tradon Bessinger, the latter finishing with a game-high 18 points and five triples, went silent.

Cameron Brower and Dilan Petersen combined for 15 points for Davis; Connor Brown stepped off the bench for a free throw in the third quarter.

Four different Phoenix finished in double figures: Tobler (13 points), Bryce Rudolph (10 points), Isaac Anderson (10 points), and Jack Layton (10 points). Crew Skabelund added five points, Sawyer Bingham chipped in three and Luke Beattie added two.

The Region 1 series between the pair went to Davis with a 20-point road win five weeks ago and a four-point home win two weeks ago.

Davis coach Chad Sims, who led the Darts to the school’s eighth boys hoops title a year ago in Salt Lake City, will miss out on that opportunity next week with his eight seniors.

“This senior class experienced back-to-back region championships, they won a state championship last year and, too many times, the last game doesn’t represent who they are,” Sims said.

He continued:

“They made some great comments in the locker room after the game, and I think it’s more about the relationships and I think the growth they had with each other over the year was great. It would’ve been nice to play down in Salt Lake, but it doesn’t diminish what these kids have accomplished over the last four years they’ve been here.”

Up 33-26 at halftime, Bessinger, committed to Iowa for football, was the wheel man for Davis with 17 points and five first-half 3s, including four in the second quarter. Davis made a 12-2 run heading into the locker room and returned strong to the third quarter with two more 3s via Petersen.

Tobler’s first triple, coming with 35 seconds left in the third quarter, helped level the show for Farmington, entering the fourth quarter down just four after trailing by as many as 12 points roughly one minute into the second half.

Walkenhurst stayed committed to his zone plan for Davis and, after Farmington won the third quarter 16-13, the waters ran cold for the home team.

“The game plan was to zone a little more than we normally do and keep them out of rhythm,” Walkenhurst said. “The first half, they were making a lot of those shots with (Bessinger), and what a phenomenal basketball player he is. … To hold a player like JT Turley to (four) points, I believe, is a credit to our kids and a belief in the game plan.”

Tobler broke an extended silence with his second triple, prompting a Davis timeout with their lead minimized to one with 5:01 to play. Sparrow broke the Darts’ six-minute scoring drought with two minutes to go but they were the ones playing catch-up.

Sparrow delivered a saving-grace layup with 11 seconds to go and, for a moment, it looked like Davis would force overtime and possibly reset. It wasn’t the case, but Sims could hardly be surprised by the opportunity Sparrow presented his team with a season’s worth of sweat, blood and tears on the line.

“We ran a set coming out of it and (Bessinger) drove the baseline to create a shot for (Sparrow),” Sims said. “Bode’s great around the rim, he’s a gamer and it wasn’t surprising that he knocked it down.”

Farmington and Lehi meet in the first of four 6A boys state quarterfinals contests on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at the Huntsman Center. Tipoff is slated for 9:30 a.m.

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.