Tooele has played some powerful opponents this season — Carbon wasn’t one of them.
The Buffaloes showed what they can do against a lower echelon 3A team with their up-tempo style — annihilate them.
Tyler Lawrence did whatever he wanted on offense against the Dinos. The junior knocked down four 3-pointers in the first quarter, and the Buffaloes raced out to a 30-14 advantage. Tooele maintained a big lead throughout the game to win 79-62 against the 1-9 Dinos.
“We’re getting there,” said Tooele coach Shawn Faux. “When we play team basketball on offense, and get out and run we can do a lot of good things. The players are starting to believe in each other and what we’re trying to do. Plus, getting up and down the court is just a fun way to play the game.”
Once again, Lawrence and Justin Pollmann were the scoring leaders. Lawrence finished with 23 points, hitting on 9-of-13 from the field for 69 percent. Pollmann shot 78 percent from the field and scored 15 points.
The dynamic duo also had their passing games on target. Each contributed six assists, while Lincoln Powers and Matt Memmott came through with three assists each.
Tooele’s passing was sharp in the game with numerous easy baskets, leading to a 59 percent team shooting clip for the game. Carbon gathered in very few offensive rebounds with Ace Hymas controlling the defensive boards for the Buffaloes. Hymas snagged seven defensive rebounds and four offensive rebounds. He was the third-leading scorer for the Buffs with 13 points.
The final score could have been worst, but Faux emptied his bench in the fourth quarter when the Dinos outscored the Buffaloes 20-14.
“We really do need to get better on defense and rebounding,” the coach said. “ I’m happy with the confidence level of the players and their willingness to share the ball.”
Twelve players ended up scoring in the game. Memmott scored six, Powers five, Ryan Brady five, Nick Swartzman four, Andrew Spendlove two, Cole Schneider two, Lawson Ross two, Isaac Montague one and Colton Schofield one.
Carbon led 5-4 before a superb backdoor play to Pollmann made it 6-5 Tooele. The Buffaloes never trailed from that point. Lawrence drained a 3-pointer to make it 9-5. Baskets by Hymas, Pollmann, Lawrence and Pollmann suddenly put Tooele up 19-7. Spendlove blocked a shot to ignite a fast break basket by Memmott, then Lawrence cranked in a flurry of three 3-pointers in the final minute of the opening quarter to keep the scorekeeper busy.
It was more of the same in the second quarter with Tooele expanding the lead to 49-26 at intermission. The starters rested most of the second half, as Carbon trimmed their deficit from 23 down to 17 when the final buzzer sounded.
Tooele hosts Ogden on Monday, Dec. 30.