Ogden » On Wednesday afternoon, a day before Highland's Class 4A boys' basketball quarterfinal against Lehi, Rams coach Keith West said that his team had the talent to beat anyone in the state and the inconsistency to lose to anyone in the state.

On Thursday night, talent won out.

Riding the talents of Sam Orchard and Nate Fakahafua, Highland defeated the Pioneers, one of the title favorites coming into the tournament, 52-41, at the Dee Events Center to advance to today's semifinal, where the Rams will face Timpview.

"I thought we showed a lot of toughness," Orchard said. "We came into the game and we wanted to box out and rebound and play good defense. Those were the keys for us."

Orchard was the linchpin to Highland's ability to win the game. The junior point guard scored a game-high 19 points, had four rebounds and three assists. More importantly, he turned the ball over just once, handled the offense almost flawlessly against Lehi's pressure man defense and made big plays when he had to.

"Sam was wonderful tonight," West said. "He orchestrated things out there for us tonight. He's a talented player and he played extremely well for us."

Down 14-11 midway through the second quarter, Highland closed the first half on a 12-2 run to take a 23-16 lead into the break. The Rams never trailed again. They dominated because they held the Pioneers to 31 percent shooting from the field. They dominated because they never let Will Walker put his stamp on the game, holding the crafty 6-foot-6 senior to 10 points on 4-13 shooting.

Much of that credit goes to Fakahafua, who played stellar defense, had 10 points and 10 rebounds and held his own all night underneath the basket.

Once that was established, Highland let its athleticism take over. The Rams spread the floor, let Orchard go to work and found open shooters on the perimeter all evening long. Once Lehi was forced to foul, Highland made its free throws down the stretch and pulled away with a 24 point fourth quarter that more than off-set the five point third period performance.

Timpview 59, Sky View 48 » Eli Robison scored 14 points, Colby Jorgensen had 12 points and Christian Covey had 11 points and seven rebounds to lead Timpview into the semifinals.

Mountain Crest 64, Bountiful 53, OT » Matt Stewart had a game-high 27 points to lead the Mustangs. Troy Pickett chipped in with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Provo 59, Springville 53 » BYU signee Kyle Collinsworth led the way for the Bulldogs with 27 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals.