/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24400845/merlin_2961101.jpg){kind=small}
After increasing their lead after each of the first three quarters, Lehi seemed to have the upper hand against their mighty region foe, Alta.
Up 10 points entering the fourth quarter, it looked like Lehi was going to hand Alta its first region loss of the season.
Lehi’s offense, however, hit a major dry spell, not scoring again until just under a minute left in the game.
While Lehi wasn’t able find the basket, Alta took advantage and went on a 12-0 run to pull ahead by two with 15 seconds left.
With the ball and one last chance to squeak out the victory, Lehi called a timeout. They proceeded to run a play that they have done over and over again during practice. Junior Grayson Brousseau found himself wide open and hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with five seconds left.
Alta had just enough time to run one last play but were unable to get the shot off in time, giving Lehi the 48-47 victory.
“It was the most relieving feeling to finally hear that buzzer go off and know that we were ahead,” Brousseau said. “It just felt amazing.”
Even though Lehi had suddenly gone ice cold on the offense end, Brousseau knew that there was no need to panic and that his team would find a way.
“It was a chaotic situation. We’ve been in those situations before where we kind of hit a dry spell. We just knew that if we stuck together and kept our cool, that good things were going to happen. We just knew to trust each other, and trust coach it would all work out,” added Brousseau.
Lehi knew that if they wanted to be on the same level as their opponent, they had to somehow find a way to overcome their sudden offensive shortcomings.
“We were up six with a few minutes left in the game. We talked about it and said hey we’re four minutes away from being at a level that was a state championship level because Alta is one of the best. It was just great to see them take a step up and our defense was able to get it done for us,” said Lehi head coach Quincy Lewis.
Lewis was happy and thrilled with the ultimate outcome of the game but, judging from his teams performance in the fourth quarter, knows there is still a lot of work to be done.
“We know how good we are. But as you saw in the fourth quarter, we obviously have a lot of things that we need to clean up. We’ll go back to work and at the end of the day this was a really nice win but we can’t forget that we have a tough one on Friday.”
