By Parker Lee

| Special to The Tribune

Bountiful • It wasn’t lights-out shooting from the floor that gave the Bountiful boys’ basketball team a 56-45 win over Woods Cross, but stellar shooting from the free-throw line.

The Braves made just four field goals in the entire second half, only two of which came in the fourth quarter. However, they went 18 for 21 from the free-throw in the final period to top the Wildcats.

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"We work on free throws every day for at least 20 or 30 minutes," sophomore guard Sam Merrill said. "With as much as we practice it, we better be good at it."

Bountiful coach Mike Maxwell said that to be a good team, you have to be solid from the charity stripe.

"We have shot almost 80 percent from the line this season, it is kind of our forte," Maxwell said. "If you want to win championships, you have to be a good free-throw shooting team."

Even with the clutch shooting from the line, Bountiful still had to work for the win. After the Braves scored on the first possession of the second half to take a 10-point lead, Woods Cross went on an 11-0 run to take the lead.

The Wildcats were aggressive on defense during that run, which created easy shots on the offensive end. Merrill said Bountiful was not playing smart, and they needed to adjust their mindset.

"We are just not taking care of the ball," Merrill said. "We were turning it over and setting them up with fast breaks. We just had to be more patient and make better passes, and things got better once we did that."

Bountiful forward Brit Harding ended the Woods Cross run with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter. To open the fourth quarter, Merrill, who finished with a team-high 15 points, nailed a jumper and the Braves got to the free-throw line on nearly every possession after that to close out the game.

"That’s 11 wins in a row," Maxwell said. "You want to have some positive momentum going into the playoffs, and we have been playing really well."