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West Jordan • Going strong to the basket paid off for Copper Hills through three quarters of play on Tuesday night.

And when the outside game came along, 3-pointers were all the Grizzlies did for a crucial five-minute stretch late to put away visiting Jordan, 64-48 in a Region 3 boys basketball game that kept Copper Hills (14-3, 6-0) firmly entrenched at the top of league play.

"We like to be able to be balanced offensively and be able to go inside, get to the rim and post up," Grizzlies coach Andrew Blanchard said. "And we like to be able to stretch them and shoot."

The player who epitomized that was senior Stockton Shorts. Leading all scorers with 26 points, Shorts drove inside the pain three consecutive possessions in the second quarter in a 12-0 run for Copper Hills — including on the finishing end of an alley-oop from by teammate Callahan Blackham.

Still, the Beetdiggers (10-6, 2-3) answered the Grizzlies' run with 11 straight points of their own to go up 26-25.

In the third quarter, a putback bucket by Jordan's Josh Christensen brought the 'Diggers to within 34-33. Copper Hills, at that point, had connected from long-range once — the first basket of the game by Rowland Bolman.

But, with 2:35 left in the third quarter, Shorts broke loose and drained a 3, and Bolman followed with a 3 for a 40-33 lead. That was the start of five straight 3-pointers by Copper Hills, the last one by Ben Baysinger giving Grizzlies a 49-43 advantage.

"We just try to run our plays and get open looks — and then knock them down," Shorts said.

The other crucial player on the night for Copper Hills was sophomore center Trevon Allfrey, who finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

"Lots of times we try to work it inside-out and get it into the bigs, because the bigs are really good," Shorts said.

"They make you pay for mistakes," said Jordan coach Trace Bevill. "We guarded him (Shorts) good for awhile, but he just got loose and we just couldn't stop him. We just didn't make smart basketball plays. We hurt ourselves with turnovers and missed opportunities."

The next opponent for both schools is Bingham High. The Miners play at Jordan on Friday and then host Copper Hills next Tuesday. —

Storylines

R The Grizzlies net 26 points from senior Stockton Shorts while sophomore big man Trevon Allfrey has 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks.

• Jordan is led by Josh Chrstensen's 15 points while Dyson Koehler and Cameron Blunck grab eight each.