A back-and-forth battle flipped in the second half as the No. 8 ranked Carbon Dinos suffered a 50-37 loss to No. 1 Grantsville in the quarterfinals of the 3A State Championship Tournament Thursday afternoon in Richfield.
Faced with an early 15-5 deficit, the Dinos rallied to tie the game 17 all by the end of the first half. An early third quarter Grantsville run extended the lead back to double-digits. Carbon managed to get back within five points in the third quarter, but could not over come the second half deficit.
Preston Condie paced the Carbon offense as he finished with a team best 10 points. As a team the Dinos shot just 32-percent from the field, connecting on 12-of-37 attempts.
Points came at a premium for both teams as each struggled to find consistency from the three-point line. Carbon hit just four of 16 attempts throughout the game, while the Cowboys ended 5-19.
Merrick Morgan provided the second option for Carbon as he ended with eight points, six of which came from deep. Noah Bradford scored six and Caleb Winfree chipped in with five.
Carbon used a stiff defensive effort in the second quarter to claw back into the game as they allowed just two Grantsville points. The Cowboys responded by outscoring their entire first half total in the third quarter.
Tuhker Mulford scored a game-high 14 points as the Cowboys ended with three players in double-figures. Davin Ekins contributed 13 points and nine rebounds, while Tate Allred scored 12.
Thursday’s loss ends Carbon’s hopes of a 3A State Championship, but does not end the season. Now in the consolation bracket, the Dinos will meet the Grand Red Devils Friday at 12:00 to keep the season alive.
The consolation matchup will mark the third of the season between the two schools. Grand won the first two meetings, which were closely contested, en route to a Region 12 championship. The Red Devils suffered a 61-57 loss to the San Juan Broncos Thursday morning.
Live coverage of Thursday’s game will air live on KRPX 95.3 The Peak beginning at 11:45 a.m.. The live audio feed will also be available at castlecountryradio.com or through the KRPX radio app.