This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Draper • Corner Canyon began their 2016-17 boys basketball season Thursday night with a 65-55 win over Bountiful in the second game of the four-team Charger Tournament.
After Payson upended Westlake to begin the evening, the Chargers pulled out a double-digit win at home thanks in large part to the physical presence of senior Michael Scheffner in the paint.
"We had to work for that one," Scheffner said. "It wasn't our best offensive game. We had to stick it out on the defensive end."
After going 3-for-11 from the floor to start the game, Scheffner rattled off three straight makes in the fourth quarter to get into a rhythm. His floor shooting, combined with his 9-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line, gave Scheffner a 21-point game.
"I finally got in my rhythm," Scheffner said. "I got going once we started getting some more ball movement and I was able to make some plays. Everyone started to make shots after that."
In addition to Scheffner's 21 points, junior Zach Wilson added 18 points, and fellow junior Ammon Jensen added another 15 points on five 3-pointers. with five made three-point shots.
"When you can beat a team like Bountiful with three or four guys that have never had a lot of varsity minutes, it's exciting," Corner Canyon coach Dan Lunt said. "Mike [Scheffner] attacked the basket and did some great things, Zach Wilson did a great job of getting to the rim, Ammon Jensen hit some big shots down the stretch — everyone contributed. That's what we have to have. We're not going to shoot the ball well every night, [and] when you can have a bad night shooting and still get the job done, it's exciting."
The Chargers did look suspect at times. Bountiful began the second half with a 9-0 run to take the lead briefly, and the third quarter was full of turnovers and miscues on both ends for Lunt's team. He said that is expected in an opening game, but they have improvements to make before they're ready to compete for a region title.
"There's no question that we've got a lot of work to do," Lunt said. "But, that's what we want at this time of the year. If we can't play better than what we just played then we're in trouble. We have a lot of improvements to make, but when you can beat a team like that with the tradition and talent they have, it says a lot about our team."