Piute and Bryce Valley will meet in an all-Region 20 1A hoops final
Another year, another set of epic games.
That pretty much sums up tonight’s semifinal round of the 1A boys basketball tournament.
This is the fourth year I’ve covered the 1A tournament, and of the eight semifinal games I’ve now witnessed, seven of them have been legitimately great games.
Both semifinals last year were great, and both semifinals this year were certainly great.
At the end of it all, Bryce Valley and Piute gutted out victories to earn the right to face one another to decide the 1A championship on Saturday at 5 p.m. in what will be an Region 20 finale.
Bryce Valley defeated Monticello, 57-52, while No. 2 Piute took down top-ranked Rich, 59-57.
You can read my game story on the Bryce Valley-Monticello game by clicking here.
You can read my game story on the Piute-Rich game by clicking here.
Here are a few additional notes and thoughts about what happened today:
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At the end of what many felt would be a wide open tournament, the two teams left standing both come from Region 20, Class 1A’s perennial powerhouse league.
Piute defeated Bryce Valley twice during the regular season – 58-49 in Bryce Valley on Dec. 17th and 60-45 in Junction on Jan. 22nd. Of course, the game that everyone from those two schools will remember is the one that takes place tomorrow night.
In many respects, both teams have quite simply dug in and found ways to win and advance in this tournament. Piute will no doubt be the favorite to win it all when the T-Birds walk out on the floor tomorrow night, but the Mustangs have repeatedly shown that you mustn’t ever write them off.
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There are always things that you simply don’t have space to fit into any given story, and that was certainly the case tonight with my two semifinal recaps. Here are two quotes I really liked but wasn’t able to fit in anywhere.
Bryce Valley coach Eric Jessen, on what Friday’s semifinal victory means to everyone associated with Bryce Valley High School:
“I can’t explain what it means to the community. You’ll see tomorrow. There’ll be a lot of green shirts and a lot of people from Tropic and Cannonville and Henrieville and Bryce. There will be a lot of empty houses.”
Piute guard Tyson Westwood, on what was going through his mind during the fourth quarter of the T-Birds semifinal win over Rich:
“We kept the lead, kept the lead, and I just started thinkin’ about tomorrow and I did not want to play for third and fourth. I’ve done that, and it wasn’t fun. I just wanted to walk out of the tunnel tomorrow.”
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The UHSAA annually honors a “super fan” at each of the five state basketball tournaments, and during halftime of the Bryce Valley-Monticello semifinal game, the state honored Tabiona resident Velda Young.
At 83 years young, Young has been attending Tabiona games her entire life, and she has been on hand this week to support the Tigers during this year’s 1A tournament.
During halftime of the other semifinal, the UHSAA also honored Rich manager Justice Limb, who’s been a fixture on the sidelines of Rebels’ games the past several years.