Mountain Crest breezes past Maple Mountain in round one

Mountain Crest senior Faimafili "Mo" Lualu-Pututau goes up for a dunk during the Mustangs' state playoff game against Maple Mountain. Pututau led MC with 21 points, and the Mustangs coasted to an easy first-round victory. 

<strong>OGDEN—</strong> Faimafili “Mo” Lualu-Pututau led Mountain Crest with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and the Mustangs dominated Maple Mountain in the paint Tuesday on the way to a blowout win, 57-40, in the first round of the 4A State Tournament.

“It was nice to have Mo as an inside presence for us,” MC head coach Graydon Buchmiller said. “When he comes to play and we have those advantages that we had this afternoon, it’s fun to see those things work.”

The Mustangs went to Pututau early and often as he tallied 13 points in the first half against the under-sized Golden Eagles. MC opened up a double digit lead early in the second quarter, but Maple Mountain was able to pull back within double digits at the half as the Mustangs led 24-17 at the break.

“We kind of got away from what we needed to, forced a couple of things, but these guys have been here before and that’s what we told them,” Buchmiller said. “You’ve got to come with what you game-planned for, and execute those, nothing else will do.”

In the second half, MC’s Tyler Crosbie started things off with a 3-pointer, and it was pretty much all Mountain Crest for the rest of the way. The Mustangs led by 16 after three quarters of action, and opened up a 24 point lead midway through the fourth, before clearing the bench.

For the game, Mountain Crest just dominated the statistics across the board. The Mustangs shot 46.5 percent for the game, while holding the Golden Eagles to only nine field goals and 22 percent shooting (including 1-of-15 from beyond the arc). MC also outrebounded the Golden Eagles, 40-26, and recorded 17 assists compared to just two for Maple Mountain.

With the win, the Mustangs advance to the quarterfinals of the 4A state tournament where they will take on Herriman at 2:30 p.m.

“Herriman is a good ball club. They’ve got some height with them, and they can shoot inside and out, so they ought to match up pretty well. You take what the other team gives you and you’ve got to work with that. We’ll come up with a game plan for these guys and see if we can execute that.”

<em><strong>@TheRealTO</strong></em>

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