Kearns rallies to beat Granger

On Tuesday, Jan. 24, I attended the Kearns-Granger boys basketball game. It was a close contest between west-side rivals. I wrote a nice article for the Kearns yearbook, which you can see below. I didn't get a chance to interview the Granger coach (Bernie Graziano), but hoped to get him later. Here's the story:

By Bruce Smith
Matchup

Kearns coach Dan Cosby came into Tuesday night’s game against Granger trying to find an offense that seemed disorganized.

The Cougars came in averaging less than 50 points per game. Even worse, Region 2 leader Viewmont had held them to 25 a few days before. Turns out it was the defense that inspired the offense in Kearns’ 52-45 win over rival Granger.

Taylor Yager scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as Kearns rallied from an 11-point deficit to pull out the win on its home court. Dayon Goodman added 17 points. However, despite those impressive statistics, it was the defense that saved the game.

“We had really been struggling over the last … seven quarters,” said Cosby. “We have really been trying to find our identity.”

Trailing 31-25 entering the fourth quarter, Kearns employed a box-and-one defense against Granger’s Isaiah Tademy. The gimmick worked well. Tademy still scored all 14 of Granger’s points in the final period, but Kearns forced several turnovers and changed the games momentum.

“We knew he (Tademy) liked to shoot the outside shot, and didn’t want to go inside,” Cosby said. “We made him pass the ball and see if the other guys could beat us.”

They couldn’t. Tademy finished with an amazing 33 points. The 6-foot-6 senior was obviously the best player on the court. His statistics were extraordinary. He showed his three-point shooting ability, but also connected on 18-of-20 free throws and added 10 rebounds.

Funny thing, thought. When Kearns adjusted its defense to focus on him, Granger only tried harder to feed him the ball.

Going into the fourth quarter with a 31-26 lead, Granger recognized that Kearns had increased its defensive pressure and just handed the ball to its star player and asked him to make a play. He scored on four consecutive possessions to give his team a 39-34 lead.

He couldn’t keep it up, however, and Granger’s problem was turnovers. They had 26 of them, and Kearns became a fast-breaking club in the fourth quarter with Yager leading the way. After Dayon Goodman scored to tie the game with 3:28 left, Yager swept to the basket, thanks to a nice screen from teammate Afuvai Le’iato, and scored on a layup and Kearns had its first lead.

The small, but vocal Kearns crowd went crazy and the players recognized it. Quickly the game got out of hand.

Goodman scored inside and then Yager poured it on with six straight points. In less than two minutes, Kearns had built an eight-point lead.

“Taylor wants to play at the next level (college) and I told him, ‘you have to show you are’ and he did that tonight,” Cosby said.

Cosby also praised Jarvis Andrews (7 points, 11 rebounds) and Kyle Runyon for their play. The 27-point fourth quarter was a season high and also gave Kearns momentum for the future.

Only time will tell if it lasts.

GAME SUMMARY

Granger 12 9 10 14 - 45
Kearns 5 8 12 27 - 52

GRANGER (45) – Israel Tademy 0-4 0-1 0, Zach Buchanan 1-5 3-3 5, Mo Valladolid 2-7 0-0 4, Isaiah Tademy 6-10 18-20 33, Taylor Pili 1-6 0-2 2, Makol Mawien 0-0 1-2 1, Arob Mandang 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Wetenkamp 0-1 0-0 0, Alonso Delatorre 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-33 22-29 45.
KEARNS (52) – Taylor Yager 6-11 8-10 20, Afuvai Le’iato 1-7 1-4 3, Skyler Peterson 0-1 0-0 0, Jarvis Andrews 3-7 1-4 7, Dayon Goodman 6-10 3-5 17, Kyle Runyon 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Harvey 0-4 1-2 1, Tanner Westenskow 0-0 1-2 1, Darrell Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Lehi Afatasi 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 17-41 15-27 52.
Total fouls: Granger 23, Kearns 20. Fouled out: Pili. Technical fouls: Buchanan, Yager.
Three-point shooting: Granger 3-11 (Isaiah Tademy 3). Kearns 3-6 (Goodman 2, Yager).
Rebounds: Kearns 28 (Andrews 11), Granger 24 (Isaiah Tademy 10).
Turnovers: Granger 26, Kearns 23.