This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

The Davis boys' basketball team stifled Alta's offense in a 54-36 win at home on Friday evening.

The Hawks connected on just 11 of 42 field goals in the loss.

Senior forward Ben Rigby recorded his first double-double of the season for Davis, leading all scorers with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but he said that the defensive effort is what led to the Darts to their third consecutive win to start the season.

"We played really good defense today. We've really stepped it up on defense the past two games," Rigby said. "We knew [Alta's leading scorer] Connor Fulton was going to be a tough guy to defend coming in, so we decided to face guard him. Everyone did their job tonight."

The contest was never close as Davis used two impeccable quarters of defense to take a sizable lead heading into the final period of play. The Darts allowed four points in the opening quarter to take an initial 14-4 lead. Alta woke up a bit in the second quarter to make it a 10-point game at the half.

Davis followed with another gritty defensive performance in the third quarter, in which they allowed the Hawks to score just three points.

After Alta began to employ half-court pressure defense to start the fourth quarter, the excellent passing of guards Braden Sims and Braxton Taylor split the Hawks' pressure and found space for open shooters as the Darts cruised to another victory.

"The last two games we've kind of struggled in the first quarter to keep them down," Rigby said. "Today we decided that we wanted to change that so we came out with more energy in the opening quarters."

Over the course of the Darts' three-game winning streak, the offense has steadily declined while the defense has ramped up the pressure on opposing teams.

After starting the season with an 81-65 win over Uintah, Davis followed with a narrow 56-51 win over Brighton.

With Friday's game in the books, the trend of a more stagnant offense continues for Davis, but that doesn't bother the Rigby much.

"I would way rather be a good defensive team," Rigby said. "Defense is what wins championships." —

Storylines

R Ben Rigby records a double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) as Davis beats Alta to start the season 3-0.

• Davis holds Alta to 26 percent shooting (11-42) from the floor.

• Alta falls to 1-1 on the season.