Bountiful Tops Highland To Gain Top Spot In Region 6

Bountiful Tops Highland To Gain Top Spot In Region 6

Nathan Roderick, Staff Writer

Highland and Bountiful met this Wednesday, January 21 to establish the top spot in Region 6. Both teams went in to the game 4-0 in region play and both playing some of their best basketball.

Bountiful used their height and length to cruise to a 78-61 victory. This was the Brave’s 40th consecutive region win. Zac Seljaas who led all scorers with 27 points led Bountiful with the help of teammate Collin Parish who contributed 18 points. The Rams were led by Junior Ryan Lambson who scored 20 points.

The two teams went back and forth in the first quarter with Bountiful only leading by five at the end of the period, and then the Braves were ignited by their star, Seljass who helped Bountiful go on a 15-0 run in the second quarter.

The Rams battled injury and foul trouble which caused them to go deep into the bench, which is one of their weaknesses. Early in the second quarter, Brandon Warr took an elbow to the eye that created a large gash and Warr was forced to leave the game but later returned in the fourth quarter.

“Traditionally this season we’ve struggled against the zone. Bountiful is long and athletic, and they used it against us along with the zone,” Junior Rick Schmidt said.

Tough defense by Bountiful led to turnovers and transition buckets on the other end. Highland had no answer to the Brave’s length and 2-3 zone that is known to be deadly.

Bountiful opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run to push their lead to 50-20. The Rams answered answered with a 10-0 run of their own led by Lambson and Senior Spencer Divver. The large deficit was too much for the Rams to overcome.

“We need to move on and put this game in the past,” Divver said.

Highland is still in a good spot in the Region 6 standings at 4-1 but Bountiful proved tonight they are still the team to beat in the Region.

The Rams look to bounce back quickly from this game as they travel to Kearns on Friday to regain momentum and hopefully start another winning streak.