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OGDEN — Copper Hills’ boys basketball team started its game against top-ranked Lone Peak fast, looking to run up and down the court with the motorized fast-paced offense from Alpine.
The Knights were more than happy to oblige.
Frank Jackson scored 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including five 3-pointers, to help Lone Peak outrun Copper Hills 99-74 and advance to the quarterfinals of the 5A state tournament at Weber State.
“I feel like I shot the ball really well, and I stayed aggressive,” said Jackson, who also had six assists and four rebounds. “We just came off a loss, so we tried to stay positive, shoot other ball, be aggressive, and we came out on top.”
Nick Curtis added 27 points and six rebounds for the Knights (18-6), who got 21 points and five rebounds from Christian Popoola Jr. and 13 points from Dylan Hedin. The Knights were coming off back-to-back losses to end the regular season, including a 72-71 overtime loss to Riverton.
“It was a barrage from everywhere,” Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis said. “We’ve been waiting for that a little bit. And boy, this was a good time to have it.
“I did think we were going to have a much better game. We were coming off of two very good practices, and two determined practices.”
The track meet-like atmosphere wasn’t confined to the Knights, though. The Grizzlies (15-7) got up the down the floor at a dizzying pace as well. Porter Hawkins had 28 points and seven rebounds to lead Copper Hills, and Preston Sanchez added 20 points and six assists — including 18 points in the second half.
“We like to get up and down a bit, and I think the nature of the game from the beginning lended itself to that,” Lewis added. “It helped us get in a rhythm. Copper Hills is a great team, too.”
But the pace benefitted the Knights, who shot 58.7 percent from the field and made 12-of-22 3-pointers (54.5 percent). Defensively, Lone Peak also forced 13 turnovers, with Talmage Gunther supplying three of the Knights’ nine steals.
Lone Peak will face Viewmont in the 5A quarterfinals Wednesday at 4:10 p.m.
