BIG FINISH
Bees top Mountain Crest with thrilling finish in barn-burner
Taylor Wilding (center) gets mobbed by teammates and fans after making a buzzer-beating layup to win over Mountain Crest, 53-51 last week.
Sean Hales
SPORTS EDITOR
Box Elder High School's Taylor Wilding is not known as an offensive threat.
Averaging just 3.4 points per game, Wilding earns his minutes for the havoc he wreaks on the defensive end of the floor, where, coming off the bench, he is third on the team in rebounds and steals. (Wilding had his best game of the year against Weber where he had 12 points and 10 rebounds, but was brought in for his "defensive mindset," according to coach Keith Mecham.)
But Wilding possibly earned the Bees' most important and thrilling two points of the year last Wednesday when he hit a buzzer-beating lay-up to defeat Mountain Crest, 53-51, and give Box Elder its first region win of the year.
With just three seconds left in the game and the score tied at 51, Trevor Cobbley found Isaac Malone at half-court with an inbounds pass. In one smooth motion, Malone found Wilding who never took his eyes off the backboard and softly kissed the game-winner off the glass.
"I just started running," Wilding said about the last play. "I knew we had to have something quick." He added that those two points were the greatest points he's scored in any game, ever.
"It felt great," Wilding said. "I've never experienced something like that before."
It was pandemonium as the crowd erupted and surged on to the floor.
The play was not designed or planned, said coach Mecham, who had decided to not call a time out after Mountain Crest tied the game. It was just the result of great awareness after Mountain Crest had all their players in the front court to defend Shad Watson and Kolby Quayle.
"My thought was...let's just see what we can do with three seconds," said Mecham. "That was just players making plays."
The shot was not the only buzzer-beater of the game, nor was it Wilding's only buzzer-beater.
I was clear early on that neither team was going to roll over; the first quarter saw seven lead changes. Box Elder took a 14-13 lead into the second quarter, but with just seconds left in the half, Mountain Crest had generated the biggest lead either team would enjoy all night, 29-23.
Shad Watson hit a quick 3-pointer, and with just three seconds left on the clock, the Bees stole the ensuing inbounds pass. Wilding, in position under the hoop, got the ball and hit the easy bucket at the buzzer to get the Bees within one, 28-29.
Mountain Crest ate up most of the final two minutes of the third quarter and hit a three at the buzzer.
In the fourth quarter, both teams had opportunities to take initiative and seal the game from the free-throw line, but neither team could capitalize.
With the score at 45-44 for Box Elder, the Bees failed to score on their possession. However, Steven Didericksen got a huge block on the other end of the floor to stop the Mustangs from taking the lead. Both teams also committed questionable fouls and missed a couple front ends of one-and-one free-throws down the stretch.
In a stretch of about 50 seconds late in the fourth, Quayle hit a bucket off a screen from Watson and drained a couple of free throws to put the Bees up by three, 49-46, and give his team the initiative.
All told, the game had 19 lead changes and the teams stayed within two points of each other for most of the game.
Watson led the Bees with 17 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Quayle with 14 points and Didericksen with eight. Wilding finished with six points and 11 rebounds.
In other action last week, the Bees dropped a close contest to Sky View, 49-57.
The teams were tied at 34 at the end of the third quarter but the Bobcats outscored the Bees 23-15 in the final frame.
With about two minutes left in the game, Sky View switched to a zone defense after playing man all game, which threw the Bees off their game.
"Instead of us coming down and playing attention, we took quick shots," said Mecham. The Bobcats scored on two consecutive possessions to take control of the game and finish it off at the free-throw line.
The Bees were down 16-4 early in the second quarter when Quayle, who Mecham said had his best two games last week, "made plays and hit some shots and really led the charge."
The Bobcats largely won the contest on the legs of Div I-bound center Casey Oliverson, who put in 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in the game. They also went 14-of-21 from the free-throw line, compared to just 4-of-7 for the Bees.
Quayle had 17 points with two 3-pointers, followed by Watson with 16 points on three 3-pointers. Trevor Cobbley also posted nine points in the contest.
This week the Bees will host Roy tonight, Wednesday, February 1, and Bonneville on Friday. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.
REGION ROUNDUP
Region 5 teams will be finishing up the first half of their league schedule on Wednesday.
Logan and Bonneville, both tied atop the region at 3-1, will play the region game of the week on Wednesday. The winner will have the early edge for the region title. Sky View, who is also tied with Logan and Bonneville at 3-1, will play Mountain Crest on Wednesday.
There is no clear leader at the top: Mountain Crest beat Logan and Logan beat Sky View who beat Bonneville.
The Mountain Crest / Sky View game has pretty significant implications for Box Elder (1-3), who is one game behind Mountain Crest (2-2), especially if the Bees can beat Roy tonight.
The Royals have yet to post a win.
