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After coming so close so many times in 63 years of trying to win a state basketball championship, even some of Olympus' players wondered if that magic year would ever arrive.

"I never thought we would be here," admitted the Titans' Miles Keller in the celebration following his team's 51-44 win over Timpview and the Class 4A title Saturday at the Huntsman Center.

The doubts of past close calls were never more pronounced than during the first half when the Thunderbirds went on a 20-2 run. All the demons of 62 previous teams seemed to be conspiring against the Titans.

But, in the final 16 minutes of a tense game, Olympus went back to what made this team special and exorcised the past for one magical half.

"The second quarter, we kind of got selfish," said Titan star Isaac Monson, who pulled down 15 rebounds and scored eight points. "That's why we didn't play well. In the first and second quarter, we didn't share the ball as much."

That, and the team also went back to playing great defense, limiting Timpview to just 17 points in a second half where nothing seemed to go right for the top-ranked Thunderbirds.

Timpview coach Kevin Santiago counted nine times when shots barely rimmed out.

"We've been making those all tournament, all year," he lamented. "They bounced around that rim and came off. We had open looks at threes we've been making all year. We still played great defense, enough to keep us in it. But we ran into one of those days where your shot just doesn't go in."

And the Thunderbirds ran into an unselfish team with role players capable of coming off the bench for big shots.

One of those was sub Adam Larson, who made a huge 3-point play early in the decisive fourth period and who battled Timpview's strong and tall AJ Bollinger and Gavin Baxter under the basket while starters such as Matt Lindsey struggled with foul trouble.

"Anyone can score at any given time," said Larson. "That's what makes us the best team in the state this year. Coach tells to always be ready to play and to be ready to go in at any time because we might have to step up at any moment."

"Coach" in this case was Matt Barnes, a 1986 Olympus graduate who had a sterling career for the Titans and spent two years as an assistant before taking the head coach job 19 years ago.

No one wanted that elusive title more than the likable life-long Oly fan.

"Growing up there my whole life, I followed the team as a little kid," said Barnes as fans from the Holladay area celebrated all around him. "We have had such great players and great kids. To win a championship, just look at the community and look at the stands. We had 90 percent of the fans behind our bench and thousands of people who care. There are so many people who love Olympus. I couldn't be happier for my kids, but for everyone who came before in those 60-odd years."

The Titans did it with teamwork and defense as they turned a nine-point halftime deficit into a third-quarter lead. The doubts that crept in during the second quarter were finally erased as Olympus got big free throws from Matt Lindsey and Keller in the last 1:37 to pull away from a 41-40 deficit.

"I knew we had the talent, but we've never gone all the way through," said Keller, who finished with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists, missing only one shot all afternoon. "This year, we just had enough chemistry and enough guys to step through and make a good run at it. I am so grateful."

It was that chemistry and unselfish play that made Olympus so tough this season. Barnes called it the dynamic of his team. And it was that dynamic he called upon in a halftime talk.

"We made careless decisions and had eight turnovers," he said of the first half. "We told them to play Olympus basketball, which is not forcing things, sharing the ball, and making shots."

That is exactly what happened in the fourth quarter in a game where seven Titans hit key buckets. Only Keller was in double figures but every player seemed to play his part.

As for Timpview, BYU-bound Baxter finished with 18 points, while Levi Wilson added 13. The Thunderbirds came up just short.

"There is never any shame when you have given everything you've got," said Santiago. "They lifted weights three times a week. They ran and were in great shape. … We played the toughest schedule. There was no stone we left unturned. We gave it everything we had. Today, it just didn't bounce our way. They were champions in my mind."

On this day, though, it was the Titans who left as champions, ending a 63-year journey on a joyous note.

Twitter @tribtomwharton —

Storylines

R Miles Keller leads Olympus to its first boys' basketball title in the school's 63-year history, ending a three-decade quest for gold by coach Matt Barnes.

• Titan Isaac Monson hauls down 15 rebounds, and Olympus comes back from nine points down in the first half.

• BYU-bound Gavin Baxter leads Timpview with 18 points and six rebounds.