Pine View ousted from 4A boys basketball playoffs by hot-shooting Bonneville

Written by Jeff Richards
February 28, 2019
Bonneville's Zachary Alspaugh is flanked by Pine View's Taiven Shepherd (left) and Jared Sudweeks, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 28, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

CEDAR CITY — The top-seeded Pine View Panthers were upset by the Bonneville Lakers, 60-46, in the quarterfinal round of the 4A boys state tournament Thursday.

Despite trailing for most of the game, the Panthers managed to briefly take the lead when senior Dallin Brown drove in for a layup that put Pine View ahead 34-33 with about 2:30 remaining in the third.

Seconds later, Bonneville’s Hank Bushell answered  with a 3-pointer that put the Lakers back on top, 36-34. Bonneville never trailed again, eventually winning by 14.

Bonneville, the No. 2 seed from Region 11, outscored Pine View 19-8 during the fourth quarter. The Panthers struggled to keep up with the hot-shooting Lakers, who scored on at least five straight possessions early in the fourth to pull away.

“We just didn’t get it done on defense,” said Pine View head coach Ryan Eves. “We missed a lot of assignments that we normally cover. We just didn’t do it tonight.”

The two teams had battled evenly throughout the first period, which ended 9-9. Bonneville then outscored Pine View 20-12 during the second period to take a 29-21 halftime lead.

Early in the third, Pine View’s Jared Koller drained a 3-pointer that capped an 8-2 run to bring the Panthers within two. Pine View stayed within striking distance for a few more minutes, including their brief lead, before Bonneville took things up a notch, finishing with a strong fourth quarter.

Koller, a junior, led Pine View in scoring with 19 points, including four 3-pointers. Fellow junior Taiven Shepherd added 13 points for the Panthers.

Bonneville was led by senior guard Zachary Alspaugh’s 23 points, while fellow senior Bushell added 19.

Bonneville will face Bear River in Friday night’s semifinals. Region 9 champion Pine View finished its season with an overall record of 14-9.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have two young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!