After two straight years of losing in the first game to the would-be 4A State Champion, the Sky View Boys Basketball Team broke through, defeating the heavily favored Olympus Titans who were ranked No. 7 in the state by Deseret News, 46-41 in Smithfield Tuesday night. It was a team effort for the Bobcats, as not a single player reached double-digit point totals. The Bobcat defense was key, as they stopped a Titans team that was averaging about 60 points each outing heading into tonight’s contest.

The Bobcats played epic defense from start to finish. Seniors Brad Lenkersdorfer and Garret Hinton came up with two huge back-to-back blocks for Sky View midway through the first quarter and were a big reason that the Titans only came up with five points.

Senior Brian Godfrey and Junior Don Corbell came off the bench in the second quarter and combined for eight points to keep the Bobcats close.

“Great team effort I thought. Those kids that came off the bench contributed just enough to help us keep it close throughout the three quarters, and then a little bit of a run in the fourth which broke it open for us. I’m just proud of the effort we got from everyone tonight,” Sky View head coach Kyle Anderson said.

Godfrey hit a 3-pointer on the right wing that spurred a 14-3 Bobcat run over a five minute stretch. Lenkersdorfer and Senior Kyler Carlsen combined to hit eight points during that stretch and both players ended with eight points apiece to lead the Cats in scoring. The Titans would not go quietly however as Titans leading scorer, senior guard Nick Paulos found his touch from long range, hitting two 3’s to keep the game close. It was too little too late for Titans however, as the Bobcats calmly hit enough free-throws to seal the victory.

Paulos didn’t even lead the team in scoring against the Bobcats, thanks to senior Nick Eskelson.

“(Paulos) He’s a tough player tough player. He can shoot anywhere he wants to,” Eskelson said. “We thrive on our defense. That is what has won us games this year. We kinda just counted on our defense and it came through for us.”

Senior Connor Brady led the Titans scoring 13 points, while senior Ben Sonntag chipped in 10 points.

Overall, Coach Anderson was pleased with how the Bobcats stuck to the game plan.

“I was just proud of our guys; they really went to the glass tonight and I thought that was key. Pre-game, our top thing was: ‘We have to rebound the ball.’ We have to limit their possessions and one way you can do that is not giving them second chances,” Anderson said. “I thought we rebounded the ball well. To hold someone like Olympus to 23 points through three quarters is great. Rebounding and defense has been the key to our success this year.”

Olympus was ranked as one of the top 4A basketball teams in the state, and the Bobcats were well aware of the challenge they faced against the Titans.

Lenkersdorfer said, “We knew these guys were good. We knew they could shoot. We knew they could all shoot the 3-ball. We knew they could beat you at the dribble all day long. Playing defense has been our thing all year. We just had to hunker down. I think we did that pretty well.”

Coach Anderson agreed, “After watching film we knew that they were a good team. We knew that they could shoot the ball and we knew we had to play defense tonight,” Anderson said. “It’s a big win for us. Olympus is a good team. A lot of people had them picked to go a long ways in the tournament, and fortunately we had them at home, took advantage of that and now we move on to the next round.”

The next round for the Bobcats means the No. 3 seed from Region 7 in the Timpview T-wolves. The T-wolves pummeled Snow Canyon on the road, 73-44.

Tip-off against the T-wolves is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Dee Events Center in Ogden on Thursday.