Slow start doesn’t deter Mustangs as they defeat Roy 58-46

Once again, Mountain Crest came out a little shaky in the first quarter Friday night in Hyrum, but again the Mustangs picked it up as the night went on and came out on top of the Roy Royals 58 to 46.

The MC defense was jagged, while offense couldn’t connect shots or passes. Just last week MC had similar troubles with Logan in the first quarter, even bleeding into the second. Fortunately for the Mustangs, they had sophomore big man Tanner Kirby to pick up the slack.

“He’s one we’re going to have to rely on I think more and more as we get deeper into region, and hopefully position ourselves for the state tournament,” Mustang head coach Graydon Buchmiller said of the 6’7″ center. Kirby hailed six points in the first quarter, a share of rebounds and a solid defensive strategy in the key.

By the start of the second, Mountain Crest was up by one, no thanks to Roy guard Jesse Wayment. Wayment had 15 of the Royals’ 27, tying the game going into the locker room at half. The senior finished with 24 for the night.

Defensively, the Mustangs came out strong, especially after half, keeping junior Brekkott Chapman (a college recruit) to nine points for the night.

“He’s a heck of a scorer, and we knew that he would score, and obviously you’ve gotta have a game plan to stop Chapman, the kind of caliber player that he is,” Coach Buchmiller said.

Faimafili Laulu-Pututau put up another impressive game with 17 points, while seniors Jamison Webb, Eddie Hall and Tanner Knowles all played strong on the defensive side. Senior Tyler Crosbie had a fantastic night on offense, going three for five on threes and sinking six from the free throw line, bringing in 17 for the Mustangs.

“Our team, we’re full of all-stars, any given night, anybody can score, anybody can do a lot… we just prepare as a team and great teams win championships.” Crosby said, praising his team and their fluidity together.

The fourth quarter was total evidence of that fluidity. MC came into the quarter on top and sustained that top spot, never letting Roy come within seven points the rest of the game.

Next week, Mountain Crest goes on the road to Bonneville.

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