On Friday night, #8 Carbon hosted #9 North Sanpete in what would turn out to be an instant classic. The two teams were familiar with one another after competing early in the season.
It was clear from the beginning that Carbon put an emphasis on slowing down Trevin Morley, who put up 28 points on the Dinos in the first showdown. Merrick Morgan proved up to the task and did an excellent job morphing into a wet blanket that extinguished Morley’s flame. The Dinos dispersed their attack as the remaining starters all took a piece in the action. Carbon went up 13-7 after one quarter.
The second period was much like the first. The Dinos continued to show patience and find the open shot while the Hawks struggled to get going. Keenan Hatch played with a fire and ended the half with 10 points. He was also dominate on defense, tallying four blocks in the contest. A couple of threes kept North Sanpete within striking distance, but still the Hawks trailed 27-15 at the half.
Much like the first matchup between the teams, North Sanpete came out of the half in a full-court press that slowed down the Dino attack. Carbon showed its reliance, however, and kept pace with the Hawks to hold onto an 11-point advantage going into the final quarter. Carbon maintained control of the game until the final minute as the Hawks could not get the three-point shot to fall.
With 50 seconds left and the Dinos up by nine, disaster struck. North Sanpete had the ball and Brady Jacobson shot a three, which he missed, but neither team could come up with the rebound. The Hawks finally secured the ball and kicked it out to Jacobson, who hit a quick-release three. After the inbound pass, Jacobson sneaked behind Condie in the back court and poked the ball loose. He came up with it and fired another three that found the bottom of the net, making it a three-point game. The Dinos advanced the ball up court and took an ill-advised shot, which missed, giving life back to the Hawks. None other than Jacobson pulled up from NBA range to drill his third three in three possessions. He scored nine of his 12 points in the final minute to tie the game, 49-49, and force overtime.
The Hawks then had all the momentum as no one on the Carbon sideline could believe what had happened. To the Dinos’ credit, they remained in the game and continued to fight. Morley got away one of his few open looks and hit a three to start the scoring in overtime. Condie then calmly worked his way down the lane for a bucket to pull within one. The Hawks answered with a layup of their own, going back up by three. Back and forth it went as Condie was fouled and made both free throws to pull back within one. Noah Bradford then came up with a steal and the Dinos took advantage with two free throws by Hatch to regain the lead. After another turnover by North Sanpete, the Hawks got a steal in the back court, which led to an easy layup, putting the Hawks up one. Caleb Winfree was fouled and he made one of two to tie the game once more.
With under one minute to go, North Sanpete made a bucket and got a stop on defense. The Dinos had to foul, putting North Sanpete on the line. The Hawks made both shots to go up by four with 25.8 seconds left. Condie was not about to let the season come to a close, however. He came off a screen by Hatch to connect with a three-pointer, pulling Carbon within one, 60-59. Jacobson was fouled and made both shots at the charity stripe. The Dinos called a timeout with under 15 seconds, needing a three to extend the game and their season. Coach Butler went to a perfect zone beater, again using Hatch to screen open Condie, who knocked down the season extending three pointer with four Hawks around him.
The intensity continued in the second overtime with North Sanpete again striking first to go up 64-62. Winfree answered back with a tough layup to knot it up once more. Tight defense forced a turnover, allowing Carbon the chance to make it a two-possession game. Hatch came through with a bucket to do just that. On the other end, Hatch had one of his four blocks and the Dinos came up with the ball. WInfree came through once more with a floater down the lane. Down by six, the Hawks reverted back to the three pointer, but they seemingly ran out of gas. They wouldn’t score again as Carbon escaped the mayhem 71-64.
Condie finished with a game-high 30 points, none bigger than his back-to-back threes to force double overtime. He also recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds. Hatch tallied 14 points followed by Winfree with 12 and Bradford with 11. Morgan made huge contributions on the defensive end, flustering Morley and holding him to just 14 points through the six quarters.
#8 Carbon will now advance to the quarterfinals in Richfield next week. The three-day tournament will begin on Thursday with #1 Grantsville awaiting the Dinos for the opening match. Catch all the action on etvnews.com/livesports and on ETV Channel 10.
Photos by Jeff Barrett
