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Logan • The Soaring Eagle flew higher than the Flyers to earn a shot at the Class 3A boys' basketball state title.
Juan Diego used a 12-2 second-quarter run to take a double-digit lead into halftime, but the Soaring Eagle had to hold on for dear life as the Flyers countered with a 10-1 run of their own in the third, but it wasn't enough as Juan Diego earned the 66-59 win Friday.
It was an unassuming youngster who took control of the game with Juan Diego clinging to a two-point lead with less than three minutes left. Sophomore guard Ignacio Arroyo scored eight points in the fourth quarter, including six from the free-throw line, to guide his team to victory.
When asked if he had any nerves heading to the free-throw line in the game's most high-pressured moments, Arroyo didn't mince words.
"No," Arroyo said. "The coaches give me the confidence to take the ball and get some free throws. I've been in those situations."
Juan Diego coach Drew Trost said Arroyo never seems to be phased by anything life throws his way.
"He's just a smooth kid," Trost said. "He's always calm, he never shows any emotion on his face, which is a great character trait of a point guard. We've kind of known that a game like that for him has been coming, and I kind of expected to some degree that that would happen sometime in the tournament."
Senior big man Steven Price had another solid performance with 10 points, seven rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot as the paint proved to be the most fruitful area for the Soaring Eagle offense.
"They couldn't really guard us in the post tonight," Price said. "Some of the guys that were guarding me were a little bit smaller, so I was doing well in the post. But driving was working as well because I was forcing them to move their feet and I got to the basket pretty easily."
Trost said that it's extremely difficult for teams to guard the combined size of Price as well as teammates Jason Ricketts and Brennan Fabry.
"We have a lot of size," Trost said. "Many teams will kind of have one guy that's as tall as a lot of our guys, but they don't have it over the whole team. We try to take advantage inside and whether that is off a drive or with a post catch. It really wears on people, and we get good looks."
Price, who only scored two points in Juan Diego's playoff opener against Pine View, has recorded two straight games of double-digit scoring and has been one of the most consistent scoring options to go to when his team is in need of a bucket. He said that there's only one outcome that could make his 2017 state tournament worthwhile.
"I just want to have another great game to finish off my senior year," he said. "I want to go win it."