Orem basketball: 2011-12 season recap

In mid-March, I interviewed Orem (Utah) boys basketball coach Golden Holt, and he reflected on his team's 4A state championship run. It was Orem's first boys basketball title in school history. This article will appear in the team yearbook, which promises to also be something special.

Tigers end 56-year wait

Talented squad makes history
as coach’s prediction comes true

By Bruce Smith
Matchup

What a difference a year can make.

In March, 2011, coach Golden Holt stood at the podium at the Orem High School boys basketball team banquet. The Tigers had finished the season with a 7-15 record. Holt looked at the parents in the audience, and then his team, and he saw their potential.

“I said we were going to win the state championship next year and anything less would be a disappointment,” Holt said.

The buildup to that accomplishment was something every coach, player and fan will remember.

The rejuvenated Tigers finished with a 24-1 mark, went undefeated in Region 8 and captured the school’s first-ever boys basketball championship in its 56-year history. The crowning achievement came on Saturday, March 3, when they defeated Olympus 58-50 in the 4A finals at the Maverik Center in West Valley City.

“March 3rd was our rally cry. We said all year that we wanted to be playing on that date,” Holt said. “We were the most talented team in the state. We had to focus on our heart and our character. If we played to the best of our ability, I knew we would win every game.”

Afterward, the accolades kept coming. Zach Hunsaker was named the Region 8 Most Valuable Player, and Josh Pollard and Dalton Nixon were on the first team. Hunsaker later received the same award on the all-state team. Nixon was on the second team and Jordan Darger third team.

Nixon was also tabbed the state tournament’s best player.

When Orem accepted the trophy, a huge crowd of students cheered loudly. For the team, it wasn’t necessarily a surprise. Sure, Holt had made a bold statement a year prior, but the Tigers spent every day after that planning to win.

The buildup began during the previous summer, when the Tigers played 60 AAU and other tournament-type games in Utah and various other western states and won almost all of them.

Then, early in the season, Orem played host to the first annual Great Western Shootout. Three of Utah’s best basketball programs (Lone Peak, West Jordan and Davis) were invited, as well as four of the best teams from surrounding states.

“I’m a confidence coach,” Holt said. “We knew we were inexperienced in tournament play, so we had to prepare like we were going to be there (at state).”

Not only did the tourney gain huge local and even some national attention, the Tigers accomplished a lot. They downed Highland (Pocatello), shocked Lone Peak, which went on to win the 5A state title, before losing to West Jordan in the final. That 77-71 defeat ended up being Orem’s only loss of the year.

“I didn’t want to say it at the time, but the loss did us some good,” Holt said. “It rejuvenated the kids, and got the monkey off our back. The kids knew their potential, and what they had to do to win.

On Dec. 28, Orem printed T-shirts, claiming itself to be 4A state champions, and showed them to the players but they had to wait before they could be worn. Then, Holt did something else he’ll always remember.

“We chartered a bus and took the team to Weber State,” he said. “We had lunch up there and took a tour of the arena. I wanted the kids to experience all that.”

The only problem was that, while Weber’s Dee Events Center had been the site of the previous two state tournaments, it wasn’t this year.

The players and coaches had a good laugh over it, and continued their business.

They beat rivals Provo and Mountain View twice, and erased a 14-point halftime deficit at Timpview and went into the tourney ranked No. 1.

In the title game, they led all the way but saw the margin dwindle to just four in the final minutes. Holt called timeout, but let Darger, the team’s only senior, do the talking.

"Josh has been through a lot here and let these guys know that they couldn't let up," Holt said. "He's been a big leader for us all year long and he gave them a bit of a pep talk there and they responded."