SMITHFIELD—The Region 5 race for the regular season title couldn’t get much tighter. Headed into Friday’s game, the Sky View Bobcats held a three-way tie with Box Elder and Ogden for first place. The Bobcats could control at least a part of their destiny, and they did in a positive way as they defeated the Ogden Tigers, 55-39 at Bobcat Gymnasium.

“It was a very big win,” junior center Casey Oliverson. “We kinda had to bounce back and we knew we just had to win this game and now we’re in first.”

Oliverson scored 13 points to lead the Bobcats, but it was Sky View’s defense that ultimately won the ball game.

“We’ve talked about it all year how we need to keep a team down for few points,” sophomore guard Ty Nielsen, who finished with 11 points, said. “We did it in the first quarter and I think it was the big thing of this game. It translated into our points and that kinda helped us.”

Midway through the first quarter the Bobcats and Tigers were knotted at 4 apiece before junior guard Riley Knowles nailed a 3-pointer that sparked a 13-2 run to end the quarter.

“I thought getting that lead early on in the game was big for us,” Sky View Bobcat head coach Kevin Anderson said. “Coming off of a loss and to be able to get that big lead and get us some confidence … what got us that lead was our defense. I thought our defense the first half was exceptional. Hold them to 12 points I thought was a key. I just thought our kids executed on the defensive end of the floor tonight very well.”

The continued their run into the second quarter, as a lay-up from Oliverson stretched the Bobcat run to 20-2. The Tigers called timeout to stop the bleeding, but they were only able to manage six points for the rest of the quarter.

“When we play good defense, our transition is there and we score lay-ups and those lay-ups turn into a lot of points really fast,” Nielsen said.

The Bobcat offense continued to thrive in the third quarter, as they extended their lead to 22 points, their largest of the night, off of a Riley Jensen put-back lay-up at the end of the quarter. The Tigers would make one more push, as they started the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run capped by a lay-up from senior guard Kyler Campbell to cut the lead to 45-32. On the ensuing possession Oliverson hit a bank jumper from the right side of the court and put the game away for good.

“I don’t think the fourth quarter was our greatest quarter ever,” Anderson said. “It’s a game of runs. You know Ogden is going to go on a little run. They got it down to 13 and went on that run. We were able to stop the bleeding, but I tell ya what, that Ogden team doesn’t quit. They’re going to battle till the end. Just proud our kids … we withstood their run and did just enough to get the win.”

With Mountain Crest defeating Box Elder last night, the Bobcats have sole possession of first, but they are still five games left in the season in the very unpredictable Region 5. Ironically enough, the Bobcats host the Mountain Crest Mustangs at home on Wednesday.

“They’re playing really well right now,” Anderson said of the Mustangs. “Lucky for us we get them at home. It’s going to be dog fight.”

The Bobcats will be ready to go right at tip-off.

“We’re in a pretty good place right now, but we’ve got to go beat Mountain Crest on Wednesday,” Nielsen said.

Box Score

Ogden (11-5, 6-4)

Kyler Campbell 2 0-0 4, Darrin Gomez 2 3-4 9, Sam Kunz 3 0-0 6, Parker Stromberg 2 3-3 7, Jake Lower 2 2-4 6, Lyden Egbert 1 2-4 4, Larry Rodriguez 0 1-4 1, Kael Buck 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 11-19 39.

Sky View (11-5, 7-3)

Casey Oliverson 5 3-6 13, Jordan Nielsen 2 0-2 4, Riley Knowles 3 1-2 9, Don Corbell 2 0-2 4, Grayson Moore 2 2-2 7, Ty Nielsen 4 3-4 11, Riley Jensen 2 0-0 4, Anthony Israelsen 0 1-2 1, Colton Arave 1 0-0 2, Mike Berentzen 0 0-0 0, Jason Oliverson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 10-20 55.

3-point goals — Ogden 2 (Gomez 2), Sky View 3 (Knowles 2). Rebounds — Ogden 9 (Lower 3), Sky View 22 (Oliverson 7). Assists — Ogden 3 (Cambell, Gomez, Stromberg), Sky View 8 (Knowles 3). Blocks — Ogden 1 (Gomez), Sky View 2 (Oliverson 2). Steals — Ogden 8 (Campbell 3), Sky View (Moore 2). Turnovers — Ogden 10 (Gomez 2, Lower 2), Sky View 14 (Moore 4).