facebook-pixel

Kragthorpe: Future Ute Rylan Jones helps Olympus complete a history-making season with a 5A state title

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Olympus' Rylan Jones (15) had 24 points and 6 rebounds in the game. Olympus defeated Corner Canyon 76-49 to win the 5A High School Boys’ Basketball Tournament Championship at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Saturday, March 3, 2018.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Olympus' Rylan Jones (15) had 24 points and 6 rebounds in the game. Olympus defeated Corner Canyon 76-49 to win the 5A High School Boys’ Basketball Tournament Championship at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Saturday, March 3, 2018.

By https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/sltrib/df93632e-8d36-43fd-ba2e-62907eafab52.jpg Kurt Kragthorpe
 | March 3, 2018, 1:37 p.m.
| Updated: 9:46 p.m.

Olympus guard Rylan Jones drove to the basket on the Titans’ first possession Saturday, and Corner Canyon’s Hayden Welling blocked his shot. As Olympus prepared to inbound the ball, Welling scrunched his nose in a look of disdain.

The Chargers’ moment of dominance, or even mild resistance, did not last long. Olympus completed a 27-0 season with a 76-49 victory in a meeting of Salt Lake Valley schools in the Class 5A boys’ basketball state championship game at the Huntsman Center.

“We’ll talk about this team … for the ages,” Olympus coach Matt Barnes said.

Although they’ve played in Utah’s second-biggest classification, the Titans will be in a discussion with Lone Peak’s celebrated 2013 club as one of the state’s best teams of this decade. They certainly made themselves memorable in this tournament, winning four games by an average of 32.7 points.

Jones, a 6-foot junior, is committed to play for the University of Utah, where his father, Chris, is the Utes’ director of basketball operations. Rylan Jones’ performance of 24 points, six rebounds and six assists came a few hours before the Utes staged Senior Day against Colorado, doing his part to stir interest in Utah’s future.

“It was fun to do it right here,” Jones said.

Harrison Creer scored 16 of his 21 points and Jones added 14 in the first half, when the Titans took a 46-24 lead. So after trailing Corner Canyon by 25 points in the second quarter of last year’s state semifinals in Ogden, Olympus outscored the Chargers by 51 points in about five quarters – less than 40 minutes – of two state tournament games.

My default stance is to cheer against dynasties in high school sports, believing the state championship trophies should be spread around. In that sense, Springville’s unlikely double-overtime win over Olympus last March in Ogden was a healthy development, preventing the Titans from potentially winning four titles in a row as of next March (Olympus took the 2016 championship when Jones was a Logan High freshman).

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Corner Canyon's head coach Dan Lunt. Olympus plays Corner Canyon for the 5A High School BoysÕ Basketball Tournament Championship at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Saturday, March 3, 2018.

Yet there’s also some appeal in a prominent team coming from Utah, including Lone Peak’s 2013 group that featured Nick Emery, Eric Mika and TJ Haws and was awarded a national championship. Lone Peak beat Alta 72-39 in the title game and went unbeaten in Utah.

Logically, these Titans would lack the talent and depth to stay with those Knights, but I know this: Olympus is tough to stop.

The Titans have “five guys that can shoot, pass, score,” Jones said.

Searching for a defensive game plan, opponents “didn’t find one that worked this year,” he said.

That’s especially true of dealing with Jones, who’s a very good driver and outside shooter and has a knack for seeing the court and passing the ball ahead.

“He’s unbelievable,” Barnes said. “I mean, he just puts so much pressure on a defense. … The way he can finish in traffic is amazing.”

After Welling blocked his first attempt, Jones missed on another drive — and then went 10 of 11 the rest of the game, missing only a 3-point try. You pretty much have to see him in person to recognize his speed with the basketball from end to end. Jones thrives in Barnes’ system, and his future Utes teammates will love playing with him, as former Olympus star Matt Lindsey did.

“I come from a high school where everybody touches the ball, every possession,” said Lindsey, now playing for Salt Lake Community College. “It’s just a good way to play basketball, when the ball’s moving.”

Jones is projected to meet Emery and Haws in a Utah-BYU game in the 2019-20 season, giving some context to the hypothetical discussion of how Olympus of ’18 compares to Lone Peak of ’13. What’s inarguable is that nobody in the 5A tournament even could come close to the Titans.

Support free news for Utah

sltrib.com is now free to access — no subscription required. We made this decision because we believe access to trustworthy, independent news shouldn’t depend on what you can afford — especially as misinformation and AI-generated content continue to rise.

Free to read doesn’t mean free to produce. Our reporters show up every day to ask hard questions and hold powerful institutions to account. That work takes resources. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on support from people who believe it matters. Make a donation today to fund local news that serves Utah communities.

You can help us bring more local news to more communities today.

$15$25$35

MOST VIEWED