Published Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020 | 8:40 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020 | 12:29 a.m.
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The Faith Lutheran basketball team led Arbor View by three points in the final seconds of overtime Tuesday in the Mountain Regional semifinals.
The Crusaders, a few seasons removed from competing in the small-school class 3A, were about to qualify for an unexpected spot in the large-school state tournament.
Then, Arbor View’s Donavan Yap, the UNLV commit and one of the area’s top players, drained a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to force a second overtime. Ouch.
But instead of being mentally defeated, the underdog Crusaders answered the bell in the second overtime, completing the 72-70 upset of Northwest League champion Arbor View. Arbor View had beaten Faith Lutheran twice in the regular season.
“Our kids are resilient. They have so much character,” Crusaders coach Bret Walter said.
The retiring Walter has spent more than 20 years guiding the Crusaders’ program, proudly coaching in all of the state’s classifications. He’s won multiple state titles, but all in the 2A and 3A.
Returning to state in the large-school class “is a dream we were hoping to reach,” Walter said. He paused and added, a “big time dream.” Their journey to state also includes an overtime victory last week in the quarterfinals against Canyon Springs.
Yap was as good as advertised for Arbor View, scoring 15 points in the two overtime sessions to finish with a game-high 39 points. And early in the game, Arbor View appeared to be heading for an easy win with a 9-1 lead.
“It sure looked like we were going to get blown out,” Walter said.
AZ Johnson had 22 points for Faith Lutheran, and Jackson Williams added 17.
Faith Lutheran advances to Thursday’s Mountain championship game. The winner plays qualifies for the state semifinals next week in Reno; the loser plays the loser of the Desert Regional Saturday in the first round of state.
Desert Pines one game away from repeating
The Desert Pines defense dominated in the Mountain Regional semifinals against Cheyenne, limiting the Desert Shields to five first-quarter points in a 53-38 win.
Desert Pines played zone most of the night to contain Cheyenne star Glenn Taylor, who scored 16 points.
“We tried to hold Glenn in check,” Desert Pines coach Mike Uzan said.
Anthony Swift was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points and eight rebounds, Dayshawn Wiley had nine points and Darnell Washington finished with six points and 10 rebounds. Milos Uzan added four points, eight assists and nine rebounds.
Desert Pines, the reigning Mountain champions, hosts Faith Lutheran at 7 p.m. Thursday in the title game.
Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21
