<strong>HYRUM—</strong> Logan came out strong Friday night in, but it wasn’t enough to take home a win against rival Mountain Crest. The Grizzlies seemed to be in control in the first quarter, but the Mustangs shook off a slow start to pull away for a 64-51 win.
The Grizzlies played seamless defense that continued well into the second quarter. What Logan wasn’t expecting was senior Tanner Knowles having the game of his life. In the first quarter Knowles had 11 of MC’s 13 points, with an unexpected defensive performance as well.
“I wanted to come back and have a big game for my home crowd,” Knowles said.
Knowles totaled 20 points (four of them dunks), four swats and three steals defensively.
The second quarter was tight, with neither side holding a lead for very long on each other. However, going into the half MC held the lead, 25-23. As it turns out, that’s as close as the Grizzlies would get for the rest of the game.
Mountain Crest came out with a vengeance after half, coming out of the third quarter 11 points over Logan.
“Their energy in the third quarter outmatched our energy and that’s tough when you’re playing a Mountain Crest team that’s really good,” Grizzly head coach Logan Brown said.
“They got their momentum rolling and we didn’t get it back after halftime,” Logan junior Taylor Compton said.
Compton led Logan offensively with 15 points, and an all-around solid performance on both sides of the ball. Mountain Crest senior Faimafili Laulu-Pututau had a solid performance in the second half, totaling 16 points for the mustangs.
The third quarter came with some emotion, after a slight altercation broke out between the two rivals.
“You hate for any of those things to happen, it was a very emotional game,” MC head coach Graydon Buchmiller said. “It’s something that we try to relay to these kids … that you have to keep your emotions in check.”
In the fourth quarter, Mountain Crest held a comfortable lead through multiple visits to the free throw line in a foul-filled fourth quarter for both teams. In the end, Logan couldn’t re-gain the momentum they had in the first quarter and the Mustangs pulled away for the win.
Logan (7-5, 0-1) will step back out of region play when the Grizzlies host Morgan on Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. Mountain Crest (7-4, 1-0), meanwhile, will take a week over before continuing Region 5 action next Friday at home against Roy.