#8 Carbon went up against #1 Grantsville in the quarterfinals of the 3A state basketball tournament on Thursday. The Dinos had a hard time getting things going and quickly found themselves in a 12-2 hole. Carbon would string a couple of baskets together before the Cowboys made a three-pointer that banked in at the buzzer to make it 15-6.
Keenan Hatch played an excellent second quarter, shutting down Davin Ekins, the Cowboys’ leading scorer. The Dinos, as a whole, played with a lot of intensity and nearly shutout Grantsville in the period. Carbon ripped off a 9-0 run to tie it at 15, and the game was eventually all knotted up at 17 by halftime.
Grantsville got going in the second half while continuing to limit Carbon’s opportunities. The Cowboys went on a 15-4 run to start the third quarter, taking control of the game. Carbon clawed at the deficit with back-to-back threes, only to give up another buzzer-beater three, giving the momentum back to the Cowboys. Grantsville was up 35-27 going into the fourth.
The Cowboys continued to play their game, making life difficult on Carbon. The Dinos struggled to find open looks and turned the ball over too often to hang with the top seed. The Dinos surrendered just 50 points in the game, but only mustered 37 themselves to lose the contest.
Preston Condie led the scoring for the Dinos with 10 points followed by Merrick Morgan with eight and Noah Bradford with six. Hatch recorded a team-high nine rebounds. Carbon will now face Grand in the consolation bracket on Friday.
-
- Photos by Dusty Butler
