Defensive lapses cost MC

By Jason Turner

Published:

Thursday, December 20, 2007

HYRUM — For the first two quarters, Mountain Crest held prolific scorer Skyler Halford in check, limiting him to a trio of two-point baskets.

However, players like the Timpanogos guard are hard to contain for an entire 32 minutes, and such was the case Wednesday night at the ICON Activity Complex.

Halford was darn near unstoppable in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 of his game-best 29 points, leading the Timberwolves to a 71-63 road victory over the Mustangs in a non-region boys basketball contest.

“I think he’s obviously one of the best players in the state,” said MC head coach Jim Crosbie, whose squad lost to a 5A team for the first time this season (3-1). “... I’d have to say he’s probably the best guard overall (we’ve seen this season). He could do everything, penetrate, dribble, find a way to get his shot off.”

And once Halford got his shot off, chances are the ball found the bottom of the net, especially in the fourth quarter. The senior hit 6-of-7 shots in the period, including three straight 3-pointers.

Timpanogos trailed 52-50 before Halford went nuts from beyond the arc. Halford’s third trey came directly after a Mountain Crest timeout and gave the Timberwolves a 59-54 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Unfortunately for the Mustangs (4-3), all three of Halford’s 3-balls were probably preventable. Mountain Crest went underneath screens on two of them and left Halford wide open on the third one by doubling down in the post.

“We had a great game going and a couple little, tiny mental lapses cost us,” Crosbie said. “... We have to find a way to not let those things happen late in a game.”

Needless to say, Halford capped off a huge fourth quarter for the visitors. Timpanogos outscored the hosts 25-19 in the period, going an eye-popping 9-for-11 from the field. The T-wolves (3-5) hit 15-of-21 shots in the second half alone.