Sandy • For three quarters of play, the Alta boys’ basketball team dominated Jordan. The Beetdiggers nearly pulled off a spectacular fourth-quarter comeback, but Alta senior forward Jarett Anderson helped the Hawks to hold on for the 73-62 victory.

Entering the fourth quarter, Alta had a comfortable 22-point lead. It took Jordan only four minutes to go on a 21-2 run to make it a one-possession game. Anderson said the Hawks were just coasting because they thought the game was in the bag.

"We completely lost focus because we thought the game was over," Anderson said. "We had to lock down. You can’t have even one dull moment."

The Hawks did lock down, and there were no more dull moments.

Coming out of a timeout, Anderson broke Jordan’s press and dished the ball off to Dub Price for an easy layup to give Alta a 60-55 lead. On the next possession, Anderson found himself wide open in the corner. He took the pass and nailed the three that was the dagger in the ’Diggers side.

Anderson finished with 21 second-half points after being shut out in the first half. Alta coach Jim Barker said Jordan was keyed in on Anderson, so he needed to make adjustments.

"They were really focusing in on him, so I told him to start making different cuts, which opened him up more in the second half," Barker said. "If he misses a couple shots, he doesn’t worry about it. He has the ability to stay calm, whatever the situation is."

Alta has no time to celebrate. The Hawks host West Jordan on Friday in what promises to be the Region 3 game of the year. Both teams are 6-1 and the winner will likely claim the region title. Alta hopes its momentum from beating Jordan carries over to Friday’s game. For that to happen, Anderson said they need to focus on what they did well against the Beetdiggers.

"We have to learn from this," Anderson said. "We have to recognize what gave us our big lead, and we need to build on that."