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Ogden • They played behind for most of regulation. And when Kearns finally did get the lead, Timpanogos twice scored last-second layups — first to send the game into overtime and the next into double-overtime.
So it's no wonder that a steal and flush by senior Bushmen Ebet, with four seconds remaining in the second OT, felt like the long sought-after exclamation point that was needed for a Kearns team that had just barely survived elimination.
The Cougars prevailed 67-59 in double overtime of a Class 4A opening-round thriller at the Dee Events Center on Tuesday.
"I just had to," Ebet said of the dunk that came off his eighth steal of the game. "It felt good, it felt good."
Ebet finished with a game-high 24 points while Buay Kuajian added 19.
After the game, Kearns coach Dan Cosby said that it was his players who always believed they could come back from deficits as high as 13 points in the second half.
"You know what, those doubts kick in and I ask myself, 'Are we done?'" Cosby said. "The guys said, 'No, we're not done. We've still got more.' They said, 'We got it, coach' and they did it."
Kearns (17-7) trailed 48-42 when Chase Pickett hit a reverse layup for Timpanogos (14-10) with 4:12 left in regulation. But two buckets from Kuajian sandwiched a putback from Ebet and the game was tied at 48-48.
The Cougars then took the lead with 1:21 remaining on a fast-break score from Journey Buba.
Timpanogos, however, tied the game at 50-50 when Tanner Melville drove from the right for a score with 11 seconds left. Melville led the Thunderbirds with 21 points and Pickett added 11.
At the end of the first OT, Kearns took a 53-51 lead on an Ebet field goal with 30 seconds on the clock. But, this time, it was Nat Hale who got free for a layup with only two seconds left to deadlock the game again.
"We were tired, very tired," Ebet said of going into a second overtime. "But we had to push through."
"Some of the guys hadn't seen this kind of atmosphere before and were in shell-shock a little bit," Cosby said of the team's slow start. "I was telling them to get into the game. And they got into it at the end."
While Cosby may have to talk his team down from the ceiling for a Thursday quarterfinal with Logan, the loss for Timpanogos was agonizing.
Twice in the late stages of regulations, 3-point attempts by the Timberwolves rattled within the rim before bouncing out. Then, in the first overtime, two layup attempts lingered on the rim before falling off.
And it all happened right in front of the Timpanogos bench and helpless spectator Izzy Ingle — the team's coach.
"Right there. Every single one of them," said Ingle of his viewing position. "So many in-and-out shots that could've fallen.
"Losing hurts. Losing in double-overtime of the state tournament kills," Ingle said. "But I love our guys and I'd rather lose a double-overtime game with Timpanogos than win anywhere else." —
Kearns 67, Timpanogos 59 (2OT)
R Kearns trails by as many as 13 points in the second half before mounting a comeback.
• Timpanogos twice deadlocks the game in the waning seconds to force an extra period of play. Tanner Melville and Nate Hale hit game-tying shots at the end of the fourth quarter and the first overtime.
• Besides 24 points, Kearns' Bushmen Ebet has eight steals. —
4A boys' tournament
P At Dee Events Center (Ogden)
First round, Tuesday
• Olympus 56, East 49 (2OT)
• Maple Mountain 66, Mountain Crest 55
• Logan 70, Provo 50
• Kearns 67, Timpanogos 59 (2OT)
• Spanish Fork 53, Roy 44
• Bountiful 58, Murray 56
• Orem 50, Highland 42
9:10 p.m. • Sky View (13-9) vs. Timpview (14-8)
Quarterfinals, Thursday
• Orem vs. Timpview/Sky View, 2:30 p.m.
• Bountiful vs. Spanish Fork, 4:10 p.m.
• Logan vs. Roy, 5:50 p.m.
• Maple Mountain vs. Olympus, 7:30 p.m.