2A championship thoughts
A day after seeing South Summit win its first 2A championship in boys basketball, it still seems a little surreal reflecting on how it all played out.
Things looked bleak for the Wildcats entering the game’s final minute.
They had missed 11 straight baskets going back to a 3-pointer from Jacob Flinders that gave South Summit a 25-21 lead with 2:39 left in the third quarter. The Wildcats also sorely missed the physical presence of senior forward Judd Rydalch after he left the game with 5:43 left in the third, shortly after dislocating his knee, and did not return.
Waterford struggled to create space during that time, but the Ravens appeared to be on their way to hoisting the championship trophy when Seth Monson drilled a 3-pointer to make it 35-30 with 1:21 left and Christian Priskos made both free throws on a 1-and-1 opportunity to make it 37-31 with only 45 seconds showing on the clock.
Of course, that all set the stage for an incredible comeback that featured three baskets from Levi Thompson, three turnovers by Waterford and a one-point win and jubilant mid-court celebration by the Wildcats.
It marked the third straight game where South Summit rallied from a substantial second-half deficit and was the second game in a row where a Wildcat player came up with a game-winning shot in the final seconds. The way the Wildcats rallied from behind in all three games in Richfield served as evidence to the never-say-die attitude the team carried into each game.
Overall, South Summit navigated perhaps the toughest draw of any team in the 2A bracket to get its state title since 1976. The Wildcats had to defeat all three region champions — including a team in South Sevier that had 23 straight victories up to that point.
The Wildcats were an underdog in all three games, but they never felt like one.
“We knew we could beat everybody,” Levi Thompson said after the championship game. “We knew we were the best team and we showed it.”
Still, South Summit realized it also took a little bit of luck there at the end to finally break the string of second-place finishes that dogged the team in football, volleyball and wrestling earlier in the 2009-10 school year.
“It was dramatic all right,” Wildcats coach Jerry Parker said. “Oh, what a game! The basketball gods were with us.”
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Some final 2A championship notes:
Even while missing the final 14 minutes of the game, Judd Rydalch finished with seven rebounds. That was good enough to lead all South Summit players. Rydalch averaged 10 points and six rebounds per game in Richfield.
Neal Monson had a quiet game by his own standards. The senior finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. He missed part of the first quarter after his nose got bloodied on a play. But the Wildcat defense did a good job of limiting the damage he could do in the other three quarters.
Ravens freshman Eric Mika had an impressive first-half performance. Mika scored all 11 of his points in the game’s first 10 minutes and helped Waterford build up a 14-7 lead with 7:06 left before halftime. It definitely offers hope for the Ravens that they can stay competitive next season after losing several seniors from this year’s team.
Free throw shooting was a definite difference maker in the tournament for the Wildcats. South Summit went 33-of-47 from the line or 70 percent. Against Waterford, the Wildcats shot 77 percent from the line. Facing Enterprise, they converted 80 percent of their free throw attempts.
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