LEHI, Utah – Utah’s defending state (6A) boys’ basketball team, and another squad that is the current No. 1 in the state, suffered 26- and 13-point defeats to Texas-based opponents on Friday’s first full day of the Holiday Hoopfest at Lehi High.
And, in the last of the six boys games played Friday, California’s two-time State Open Division champion picked off a pass in the final seconds to secure a 57-54 win in its first “real test” in its ninth game this season.
Action begins at 9 o’clock (MT) Saturday morning, when a nine-game slate (three of those girls’) gets underway when Fort Worth Eastern Hills faces Draper (UT) Corner Canyon.
Studio City Harvard-Westlake (the only California-based program in this Glenn Smith-fronted extravaganza), will try to remain unbeaten when it faces one of Utah’s most talented teams, Timpview of Provo, at 4:30.
And, scheduled for 6, Utah Prep – and the consensus No. 1 player in the Class of 2025, A.J. Dybansta, who recently signed with BYU – plays Duncanville.
Duncanville improved to 5-2 via one of those the aforementioned “Texas over Utah” games, handing top-ranked Orem its first loss in eight games, 65-52.
Beckman Black (pictured, courtesy Charles Campbell) is one of the most gifted playmakers in the national sophomore (2027) class, as well as the brother of Duncanville graduate Anthony Black, a second-year member of the Orlando Magic.
Black’s dribble penetration and passing helped his team burst to a 16-2 advantage, as it finished with six 3s in the first quarter (four of those via Black passes).
The Tigers stabilized their defense and went up by three points in the third quarter before Black & Co. pulled away with two late 3s in the quarter and four layups down the stretch.
Black scored only six points (and attempted just three field goals) to go with seven assists, four rebounds and three steals while senior teammates Kayden Edwards (18 points; he’s headed for TCU) and Cam Smith (11) scored in double figures, as did another sophomore guard, Christopher Hunt, Jr. (13, all over the first three quarters).
Six-foot-10 senior Chamberlain Burgess (a transfer from Lone Peak) led Orem with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The host Lehi Tigers (3-2) went 23-4 in a ‘2023-24 season that was capped with a state title win over Corner Canyon, 78-67.
But they lost four starters from that squad, including state Most Outstanding Player Cooper Lewis, who signed with Saint Mary’s but is serving an LDS mission In Portland before heading to college.
State tourney standout Easton Hawkins did his best to keep the Tigers within striking distance Friday night, with 24 points.
But that second potent Texas squad, iSchool of Lewisville (near Dallas), had too many quality players operating at full throttle and rolled, 82-56.
The 7-1 Cougars (who lost on a buzzer-beating follow shot to Wasatch Academy in this event Thursday night, 48-46) were led by Tulsa-bound guard Jaylen Lawal, who scored 21 points, while another senior, Jackson Townsend (any D-Is need jump shooters, for goodness sakes?), hit five 3s and 6-9 David Iweze (he signed with Utah State) dunked or blocked anything that wasn’t nailed down.
Coach David Rebibo’s Harvard-Westlake program was the California State Open champion in the 2023 and ’24 seasons, winning 65 of 70 games in that stretch.
And the Wolverines sliced up their first eight opponents this season, with a winning margin of 31.4 PPG with only one game decided by as few as 19 points.
Their two-season winning streak is now at 22 – but oh-so-barely – after the 57-54 decision against Bartlett (whose campus is located just northeast of Memphis).
The Panthers (7-2) seemed on the verge of the same fate as the Wolverines’ first eight foes, falling behind by 12 points at intermission as Duke-bound Nik Khamenia (11) and junior Joe Sterling (three 3s) combined for 20 of their team’s 34 points.
But Bartlett his five 3’s after intermission, the last of those – coming after two missed free throws by Khamenia (who went to the bench for almost three minutes of the fourth quarter after picking up his fourth foul) – by freshman D.J. Okoth, with 3.2 seconds to go, getting his team to within two points for the first time since the first minute of the game.
After a timeout by Bartlett immediately after the bucket, Khamenia tried to inbound along the baseline but a foul was called away from the ball before the clock started.
Sterling (who finished with 17 points) made just the second of his two free throws.
After another Bartlett timeout, the inbound pass was picked off by sophomore Cole Holden to secure the win for the Wolverines.
Two other Utah-based teams, Wasatch Academy (62-58 vs. St. Raymond of New York City in OT) and Draper’s Corner Canyon (70-60 against Cardinal Ritter of St. Louis), picked up wins to give the state a .500 record Friday.
Junior guard Katrelle Harmon hit one of two free throws in the closing seconds for Wasatch Academy (8-1, the only loss coming to Florida powerhouse, Montverde Academy), wrapping a comeback that saw the team come from six points down with about three minutes to go to earn the OT.
The Tigers knocked in seven of eight free throws in the extra period.
Isiah Harwell (cleared to play, after suffering a torn ACL a year ago, just the day before the team’s Nov. 25 opener with Montverde) led them with 18 points.
And Corner Canyon got a combined 46 points from senior guards Bryton Valdes (19), Noah Bendinger (14) and Peterson Lunt (13) for its fifth win in a row after consecutive losses to Mt. Zion Prep Academy (NC) and Timpview to open the season.
In the first boys’ game played Friday morning, Baton Rouge (LA) Liberty Magnet never trailed while easing past Eastern Hills, 52-46.
The Patriots (7-1) got 14 points from senior guard Malek Robinson and 12 f – via four first-half 3s – from Kareem Washington.
Eastern Hills (5-4) got a game-high 22 points from 5-10 senior Messiah Miller (son of Coach Melvin Miller), with a couple of spectacular dunks, rebounds and steals despite missing a large chunk of the game with foul problems. He came into the contest averaging 20.8 ppg.
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