West Valley City • Granger coach Jason Chandler knew something needed to change.
He needed more energy from his team in Tuesday’s game against Cyprus. He didn’t get it in the first half. His team trailed by double digits. The Lancers seemed headed for yet another frustrating and demoralizing loss.
But Chandler’s players made sure not to let that happen. The Lancers stormed back in the second half behind a 29-point performance by senior Anel Alagic to pull out a 69-65 victory.
“I just told the guys, the seniors especially, to just lead,” Chandler said. “They know that they’re good enough to win, and I just challenged them to come out in the second half and figure some things out.”
It seemed like nothing could go right for the Lancers in the first half. Granger couldn’t get its shots to fall and Cyprus was able to get out in transition and convert on the fast break.
Chandler knew he needed to send a message to his team, and the message was taken to heart. Alagic took over in the second half, scoring 23 of his 29 points in the second half, with the majority of it coming in the paint.
“We had to start playing harder, and we just got after it,” Alagic said. “My shot from the outside wasn’t really falling, so I just committed to the paint and luckily those were falling.”
Granger took the lead for the first time on a 3-pointer by Alagic, only his second from beyond the arc in the game, with 5:30 left in the game.
A series of free throws down the stretch by Jarom Unga and Jesus Valadez helped the Lancers squeak out the much-needed victory.
“We have some really tough kids this year, kids that won’t give up as easily as we have in the past,” Chandler said. “They’ll fight through some adversity. We had a really bad game against Hillcrest last week, so I just challenged them and they did it all tonight.”
Alagic hopes Tuesday’s rally provides a spark going forward.
“We have a bunch of strong willed guys,” he said. “We all love each other, and whenever we go through adversity, we stick together. And I just know we can win.”
Skyler Case led Cyprus with 22 points, while Alex Foster added 11.
GRANGER 69, CYPRUS 65 <br>• The Lancers rally from an 11-point deficit at halftime to post the win. <br>• Anel Alagic leads Granger with 29 points. <br>• Skyler Case paces Cyprus with 22 points.