Memorable moments

Exhale, basketball fans.

Today is one of the few basketball-free days in February Madness and it’s only because it is Sunday. I was at the 3A boys and girls tournaments the last three days, and I’m currently recharging for 4A and 5A this week. I’m sure high school basketball fans are doing the same thing.

There were, as always, some memorable moments from the 3A tournaments the last few days ‘ the atmosphere and interesting dynamic of Wasatch and Judge playing for both the boys and girls state championships, the controversial technical foul call in the Emery-Judge girls game, the behind the back pass by Wasatch’s Mike Pelo and subsequent dunk by Devin King in the semifinals.

I could go on and on.

Here’s something else that was entertaining last night: When Judge was cruising past Wasatch in the boys championship, at one point in the game, the Bulldogs’ always boisterous student section chanted at the Wasps, ‘put your girls in.’

Funny stuff.

Today, I’m going to recap my most memorable moments from the last few state basketball tournaments. I invite our readers to do the same. What gave you goose bumps? What made you mad? What is something that you’ll never forget? Go back in time as far as you’d like.

Here are my top five memorable moments from the last five years, in reverse order:

5. Bingham beats Riverton on a buzzer-beater for the 5A state championship in 2006.

Brett Sommerville made the shot that all kids dream about. I can still clearly see him knocking down an 8-footer as time expired and the wild celebration that ensued. The Miners overcame a double-digit first-half deficit to beat their biggest rivals.

4. Hunter wins the state basketball championship in 2004.

I’ve never seen another team like it. Think of Michigan’s Fab Five (look it up kids), only this group won a championship. The Wolverines were an entertaining ‘ and polarizing ‘ group. Landon Jensen, MVP Carl Swanigan and Otis Nelson led a group of individuals that didn’t care what other people thought about them, talked trash, and backed it up.

Look at the four programs the Wolverines knocked off in a single week: Bingham, West Jordan, Brighton and Cottonwood (in the championship game). There were no gimmees in that group, and if you’ll recall, Brighton was the team favored to win the state tournament.

3. Olympus’ 31-point turnaround in the fourth quarter against Timpview in the 2005 first round.

The Titans entered the game as a supposed cursed program. Both my colleague James Edward and I wrote stories about Olympus’ first-round curse, which was the result of a string of first-round failures in the state tournament. The Titans looked to be ending their season on another downer, as they trailed Timpview by 15 points entering the fourth quarter. But in probably the most remarkable quarter I’ve ever seen put together by a high school team, Olympus outscored the T-birds 41-10 in the final period to end the supposed curse.

2. Wasatch beats Morgan in the 3A semifinals in 2005.

Both teams were playing for history in an incredibly charged atmosphere at the E Center. Morgan was undefeated entering the game, and Wasatch was trying to win its third consecutive state championship. The lower bowl was almost full in the E Center, and if you were there the last couple of days, you know that’s no small feat.

The game lived up to its billing, and the Wasps kept their hopes alive for a historic three-peat. That leads me to’

1. Tooele beats Wasatch in the 3A championship game in 2005.

It was straight out of a movie.

The underdog team was expected to get blown out by a bigger, more talented team. Some people actually believed that the Buffaloes had ruined the state championship game because they were going to get beaten so badly by the Wasps. One player from an opposing school told me before the tournament started that he didn’t understand how Tooele had even won a game that season.

Well, the Buffaloes did it with defense and inspiration. They won for their coach Gary Alverson, who had been diagnosed with cancer during the season. They ended Wasatch’s three-peat bid, and I’ll never forget the tears of joy I saw from the Buffaloes and their supporters after the game. It was the final state tournament game for Alverson, who died nearly a year later.