The Sky View Men’s Basketball team rode the strong inside presences of Junior Casey Oliverson and Seniors Jordan Nielsen and Don Corbell to a 50-40 road win in a very lively Mountain Crest Gym on Friday, January 21.

The Bobcats took the 20 minute bus ride to rival Mountain Crest and made absolutely sure they would not leave the gym the same way they did last time. No last second Mountain Crest buzzer-beaters to win today. No sir.

“That last second shot was extremely bitter,” Oliverson said. “This time we decided, ‘Hey. Let’s jump on them quick and not get in that same position again.’”

Jump on them quick is exactly what Oliverson and the Bobcats did. After surrendering 6 points on a pair of 3-pointers by MCHS Senior Trace Sayama and BYU football commit Alex Kuresa (he plays basketball too), Oliverson, Corbell, and Nielson proceeded to claim their territory as the painted area, scoring 10 straight points down low and participating in a 16-0 Bobcat run that put Sky View up big in the second quarter.

“He played well on the boards,” SVHS head coach Kevin Anderson said of Oliverson in particular. “I thought some other guys stepped up well and played excellent for us as well tonight. It was a great team win.”

Sky View’s teamwork slipped a little, however, heading towards the intermission. Mountain Crest mounted a 7-2 run over the 2 minutes at the end of the second to pull within four points. That run continued when Mountain Crest’s Brad Hillyard drained a trey with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half that brought the Mustangs to within one. The Bobcats entered the locker room up by 3.

Any question, however, as to who would win this game was erased by midway through the third quarter. Sky View returned to its efficient big men — Oliverson, Nielsen, and Corbell — and quickly had the lead back to double-digits. That’s when Sky View’s defense kicked in hard to stuff out the Mustangs.

“They shoot the ball well,” Anderson said of Mountain Crest. “We started the game in the zone and then they hit that quick three on us and then that other quick three. It didn’t take us long to get out of the zone after that. They’re so quick. I’m proud of our defense. They really stepped up. I thought we were able to to that better than last time.”

Sky View also excelled in the few transitional opportunities it had. The play of the night had to have been a Riley Knowles to Grayson Moore alley-oop lay-in that extended the lead to nine partway through the third quarter.

Moore, the tall but shifty Bobcat guard, also had a fine game for himself. He ended the night with 11 points and was one of four Bobcats in double-figures. Anderson said he was pleased with the overall team effort and Sky View’s unselfish play.

“Sharing the ball, not caring who scores, just playing team basketball, that’s great,” he said. “If we can keep four or five guys in double-figures, we’ll take that every night.”

With the lead once again extended to double-digits, and with Mountain Crest unable to find a way to the bucket beyond the occasional longball, the Mustangs were forced to foul. The game was salted away on a series of free throws by Moore, Oliverson, and others.

This win over Mountain Crest, combined with Logan High’s win over Ogden, slides Sky View into a tie with the Tigers for first place in the region. Anderson said he’s excited about it, but the Bobcats can take no team for granted in regional play.

“This win was huge in region play to keep us toward the top,” Anderson said. “Each game from here on out is huge. In this region anybody can beat anybody on any given night. Every game from here on out is the biggest game of the season for us. We’ve just got to take them one game at a time and try to keep this rolling.”