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Harrison Creer scores career high to help Olympus trample Highland

By https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/sltrib/91e8bade-1cb5-408a-9c6a-7237edcf391a.jpg Brennan Smith
 | Feb. 6, 2018, 9:20 p.m.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Highland's Elijah Shelton aims for the net. Olympus High School defeated Highland High School 86-54 during their basketball game, Tuesday, February 6, 2018.

Beating rival Highland 86-54 could be considered a bit of a down game by Olympus’ recent lofty offensive standards.

These are the standards applied to a team that poured on 106 points in both of its previous victories. But any and all wins are sweet this late in the season, especially Tuesday night’s that extended Olympus’ win streak to 20 and put a stranglehold on the Region 6 boys’ basketball standings.

“That’s the beauty of our team,” Olympus coach Matt Barnes said. “All five guys can shoot it, we’ve got quickness and the guards can get to the basket. We’ve got a post game where they don’t help or they stay out on the shooters.”

The aforementioned shooters buried 11 3-pointers against Highland , but the real star was senior forward Harrison Creer, who dropped a career-high 32 points.

When Highland stuck to the perimeter to defend lethal guards Rylan Jones and Jeremy DowDell, Creer went to work in the post and scored seemingly at-will against one-on-one defenders. When Highland drifted inside, he’d step back and hit a midrange jumper or a 3.

“Harrison took over and just worked the high post. He’s just a terrific player,” Barnes said. “He’s not that big and not the most athletic guy, but he’s a three-sport athlete and just a great, great player.”

Creer said the offense fed off Olympus’ usual harassing defense that turns misses and defensive rebounds into blistering fast-break runs to the other end of the court.

That defense, coupled with DowDell’s 19 points from around the perimeter, was a boon for Creer to find open looks at all levels of the court.

“Especially in a mismatch, I mean there’s nothing better,” he said. “You know there’s no help coming. It’s just you and the other guy. That’s a post player’s dream.”

Barnes was hesitant to proclaim Olympus is playing its best basketball of the season, but there’s no team in the state dominating quite like the Titans as the regular season winds down.

“We just hope we keep it rolling. We still have three games and hopefully make a run in the tournament,” the coach said. “But it’s been great so far.”

OLYMPUS 86, HIGHLAND 54 <br>• Olympus drops 84 points after scoring 106 points in its two previous games to win its 20th straight game. <br>• Titans make 11 3-pointers in a blistering performance from behind the arc. <br>• Olympus senior forward Harrison Creer scores a career-high 32 to lead the team to a win with Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak in the crowd to watch the game.
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Brennan SmithMultimedia reporter/web manager

Brennan is a website curator, multimedia producer and social media manager with a specialization in video and sports content for The Tribune. He started at the paper in August 2013 after graduating from Arizona State University.