The Thunder Mountain High School boys basketball team allowed West Valley High School to battle back late in the game and steal what should have been a Falcons road victory.
West Valley’s Daniel Hornbuckle scored six of his game-high 18 points in the fourth to lift his team over the Falcons 58-55 on Friday night.
The Falcons entered the fourth quarter up 48-41 but managed only seven points of offense in the period, compared to 17 from the home team. Nine of West Valley’s points came from behind the 3-point arc.
Riley Olsen and Mahina Toutaiolepo led the Falcons in scoring with 12 points each. Shane Mielke added 11, Chase Saviers scored eight and RJ Manning contributed seven.
TMHS built up an early lead in the first quarter, 15-9, thanks to seven points from Mielke in the period. The lead grew bigger in the second when Olsen caught fire, scoring 10 to put the Falcons up 37-22.
West Valley gathered itself with a strong third-quarter performance by scoring 19 points to cut the Falcons’ lead to seven entering the final quarter.
TMHS shot 14-of-24 from the free throw line. West Valley shot 10-of-13.
Thunder Mountain High School junior forward Mahina Toutaiolepo scored a team-high 15 points against North Pole High School in a 71-55 victory on the road Thursday night.
The Falcons’ Chase Saviers scoared 12 points, Shane Mielke added 11, Josh McAndrews had eight, and Luke Clark and Jeremiah Stephens contributed seven each.
North Pole’s Taylor DeAngelis led all scorers with 20 points on the night.
The Falcons jumped out to an early 13-10 lead after the first quarter thanks to nine points by Toutaiolepo. North Pole battled back and matched TMHS in scoring in the second to keep the Falcons’ lead at three points, 28-31.
TMHS came out hot-handed in the third behind two 3-pointers from Saviers and seven points from Mielke, extending the Falcons lead to 54-43.
In the fourth, McAndrews took the lead on offense, scoring six of his eight points, and Clark knocked down a three-pointer to further extend the Falcons’ lead.
TMHS was 6-of-9 from the free throw line. North Pole shot 16-of-27 from the charity stripe.
