Alta boys' basketball forward Kyle Davis wasn't with the Hawks when their promising postseason run went up in smoke in the first round loss to Weber last season. After moving to Utah from Boise, Idaho, for his senior year, Davis saw the only aftermath.

But he has felt his teammates' disappointment. He quickly realized how much it hurt. And now, he's playing a crucial role in the Hawks mission to avoid a similar fate in 2010.

"I hear it sucked. I'm glad I wasn't there," Davis said. "A lot of the guys said it was their worst sports experience ever. As a team, we've got to make sure that doesn't happen again."

What coach Jim Barker didn't tell many at the time was that the Hawks were playing hurt. In the final game of his high school career, leading scorer Ammon Olsen was in a considerable amount of pain as a result of a severely sprained his ankle he incurred in the last game of region play.

It was a legitimate explanation to their first-round implosion but, for the Hawks, it was never an excuse.

"We've owned up to it and moved on as a program," Davis. "It's not something we've wanted to dwell on."

But heading into the tournament, the loss resurfaced as it became another source of ammunition for those naysayers who still believed Alta's region title was more a function of luck than talent.

But Davis, for one, hopes the critics keep up the talk.

"That's just been fuel to our fire. We're glad they are saying it," Davis said. "But if we don't take care of business now, maybe they were right."

So far, the Hawks haven't left many indicators to as much.

In the preseason, Alta quickly established itself as a state title contender, defeating Olympus and Provo and falling just short against perennial powers Davis and Bingham -- all teams still in the hunt for a title during this week's state tournaments. Then, playing in the deepest region in the state, the Hawks stayed on top, pulling out nine games by 10 points or less -- and four by just one point. In a Feb. 19 rematch against Brighton in the regular season finale for the region championship, the Hawks proved they were not a fluke, defeating the Bengals 61-54 to earn their second consecutive region title.

"That last little stretch. ... It was a pretty neat experience," senior guard Jordy Brown said. "Not too many people get to experience that environment."

But for the Hawks, it wasn't enough.

Last week, they returned to the office for what Davis called "[their] most solid practice week of the season." By Monday, they were firing on all cylinders -- and ready to take on the rest of the state, expecting that it might take a state title to silence the critics for good.

"We did something fun, we achieved a cool thing by winning Region 4 but it won't mean much if we don't perform in state," Davis said.

By week's end, the Hawks will have written another chapter of their postseason history, with or without desirable results.

But according to Brown, the current lineup of Hawks has never been afraid of the final result. The team has never played not to lose. They've never let the critics decide their fate.

And perhaps most importantly, they keep the game in perspective.

"You've just gotta calm yourself down. At the end of the day, it's just another high school basketball game," Brown said. "There's no reason to not just go out and go for it."