(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Cole Knudsen of Bountiful tries to get past Jake Thacker of Lehi during game action at Corner Canyon High in Draper on Thursday November 30, 2017.
Draper • The opening game of a boys’ basketball tournament at Corner Canyon got off to a very fast start Thursday.
And for every steal and fast-break layup that Bountiful scored, it seemed that Lehi was willing to respond in kind.
And that was good news to the Braves.
“It opened up for us, for sure,” Bountiful junior Brig Willard said. “When they started pressing us, we just got layup after layup.”
It didn’t happen instantly, but the Braves’ one-point lead at the end of the first quarter eventually opened to 14 points in the second as Bountiful claimed a 76-54 quarterfinal victory.
“And Isaac here kept getting steal after steal,” Willard said.
Fellow junior Isaac Kime finished with 17 points while adding seven steals. Many of those were in the first half as Bountiful (1-1), which lost to Davis in its opener, got its initial victory of the season.
“It’s what I go out on the court to do,” Kime said about his steals, several which came off the Braves’ press and led to quick scores. “Easy layups, easy pickin’s.”
Lehi (1-2), which started the season by losing by one point to Timpview then winning handily over Maple Mountain last week, was led by Dallin Spencer’s 14 points while Dallin Holker had 13.
The score was 24-23 midway through the second when Bountiful scored 13 straight points. That stretch included a couple of 3-pointers by senior Jadon Chism and a pair of slicing drives to the hoop by reserve Jaxon Wood.
It took another spurt at the start of the second half for the Braves to put Lehi in the rearview mirror. Bountiful, which started the third quarter ahead 40-32, registered a 16-6 run with Kime hitting a pair of buckets and sophomore Camron Chism, younger brother of Jadon, swishing a pair of treys.
Veteran Bountiful coach Mike Maxwell said that players such as Willard and Kime were ideally suited for a fast tempo — something the Braves are planning on using this season.
“They’re fast, they’re quick and they’ve got a basketball IQ,” Maxwell said. “They’ve played a lot of basketball in the AAUs. They’ve grown up playing, and they’re gym rats.
“It makes all the difference in the world when you play this style.”
BOUNTIFUL 76, LEHI 54 <br> • The Braves pull away from the Pioneers with 13 straight points in the second quarter and a 16-6 run to start the third.<br>• Isaac Kime leads Bountiful with 17 points and seven steals while Lehi gets 14 points from Dallin Spencer and 13 from Dallin Holker.<br>• Bountiful has 3-pointers from six different players, including four from sophomore Camron Chism.