The crowd was loud and neither team would roll over and die Friday night when the Sky View Bobcat men’s basketball team (10-4, 6-2 Region) traveled to Logan to face their valley rival Grizzlies (5-9, 3-5 Region). The Bobcats held off Grizzly attacks in the third and fourth quarters to pick up a victory in Grizzly territory.

Both teams obviously came to play Friday night when they clashed in Logan. Behind a raucous crowd of students and fans the Grizzly sixth man put the decibel level in the gymnasium at or above triple digits. Supporting their team the crowd lifted the Logan team to two come from behind runs in the final quarters to keep the game tight and put the Bobcats on their heels scrambling to pick up crucial points to pull out the victory.

Towards the end of the second quarter Sky View built a significant lead and looked to have the game well in hand. Just before the buzzer went off the Bobcats had built up a 14 point lead before finally heading to the locker room up by eleven. The Bobcats went to the break ahead 28-17.

The Grizzlies didn’t hibernate nor were they afraid of the Bobcats. In the third quarter Logan forced turnovers and drained shot after shot, and with just over three minutes left, a 16-6 run put the Grizzlies within four. Three minutes later the quarter closed with the Cats up 38-32.

In the fourth quarter Sky View built what seemed like an insurmountable lead. Two minutes into the quarter the Bobcats were up by nine and rolling with the score at 44-35. The Grizzlies were hungry and went on a feeding frenzy, out rebounding the Bobcats and forcing turnovers, Logan’s 9-0 run tied the game at 44 with three minutes on the clock. When Logan’s Jordan Larsen hit his second three of the quarter the Logan crowd went wild and nearly blew the roof off the gym.

Sky View quickly answered but Logan would not go away and it looked like they had momentum on their side. A near miss of a Logan three pointer could a have put the Grizzlies up by one and perhaps led to a different outcome. However, as the ball circled the rim and fell out the momentum shifted back to the Bobcats and the hopes of the Grizzlies slowly started to fade.

Logan, forced to start fouling would repeatedly send the Bobcats to the charity stripe. Sky View’s performance from the free throw line would be the difference in the game. Heading into the game the Bobcats were a less than stellar 65% from the line. However, the Friday night they elevated their game and went 20-of-25 shooting 80% from the stripe. As the Bobcats methodically built their lead with free throws, and a crucial offensive rebound and put back by junior, Casey Oliverson, the clock ticked away the final seconds of the game. In the closing moments of the fourth quarter Sky View was able to maintain their lead, and left the Logan student body reminiscing of victories of the past chanting, “Let’s play football!” to the large contingent of Bobcat fans who helped fill the gym to near capacity. Both teams finished the monumental effort with 16 points in the fourth quarter.

Sky View had three players finish in double digits led by Riley Knowles who had 16 points, draining two 3 pointers, and finished the night perfect at the free throw line shooting 8-of-8 from the stripe. Knowles was followed in scoring by Casey Oliverson with 14 points, and Grayson Moore who put up 10 points of his own.

Kerby Olson from Logan was the only player on that side of the ball with double digits. Olson put up 15 points on the night. He and teammate Jordan Larsen each dropped two from behind the three point line.