The Tooele boys basketball team came into its final home game of the season Wednesday night needing a win to clinch a trip to the Class 4A state tournament. On the other side was a desperate Park City squad trying to keep its own postseason dream alive.
And with less than five minutes left in the game, the teams were tied. But on Senior Night, Tooele refused to lose, as seniors Josh Wilkins and Nathan Swan combined for 15 fourth-quarter points to propel the Buffaloes to a 63-55 win.
“I told the guys before the game, ‘these guys are fighting for their playoff lives here,’” Tooele coach Jed Thomas said. “You can bet they were going to bring it. If there was anything that I was 100 percent sure of, it was that they were going to bring the intensity.”
A driving layup by Park City’s Carson Tabaracci pulled the Miners (7-12, 4-6 Region 11) even at 46-46 with 4:47 left in the contest. However, just 18 seconds later, Tabaracci picked up his fifth foul of the evening, sending Swan to the free-throw line. That sparked a 10-2 run by Tooele (12-10, 6-4), including a breakaway layup by Wilkins after a missed Park City 3-pointer.
The Miners cut the lead to 56-52 with 1:46 left on baskets by Nathaniel Lowe and Mark McCurdy, but never got any closer than that. That was thanks to clutch free-throw shooting from Swan, who went 9-for-12 from the charity stripe in the final quarter as part of a 19-point night.
“These are the championship minutes of games — when you’re tired and feel like you can’t go any further, you have to find the will and the desire to take that next step and make that next play,” Thomas said. “Fortunately, we had a couple kids step up and make some good plays.”
Tooele built an 11-point lead early in the second quarter, using a 15-2 run to pull ahead 19-8 with 6:19 left in the first half. However, Park City came roaring back, getting 3-pointers from Adam Spink and Alex Obradovich as part of a 19-6 run as the Miners took a 27-25 lead at halftime.
The Buffs found their perimeter shooting touch in the third quarter as Canyon Christensen and Wilkins combined for three 3-pointers. Tooele took a 37-36 lead on a putback by Justin Rogers with 4:02 left in the quarter and never trailed again, stretching its advantage to 44-41 by the end of the third.
Tooele had five players score in double-figures, led by Swan’s 19 points. Wilkins had 13 in the final home game of his high-school career, while Christensen had 11. Rogers and Clay Freeman each had 10 points.
“Clay went and got some boards — he’s been doing that all year,” Thomas said. “He definitely brought it and made some good open shots tonight and got a ton of rebounds.”
Lowe led Park City with 17 points, McCurdy had 13 and Alex Fugate had 12. Three Miners — Tabaracci, Obradovich and Spink — fouled out in the fourth quarter.
The victory means Tooele will advance to the postseason, as they have a two-game lead and the tiebreaker over Park City with two games left to play. Park City must win out in order to make the state tournament as a No. 4 seed — a tall task, given that the Miners will face first-place Juan Diego on Friday. A Park City loss to Juan Diego would clinch a playoff berth for Stansbury.
Tooele will travel to Ben Lomond on Friday before wrapping up the regular season Tuesday at Ogden.