LAYTON — A top-10 boys basketball contest between Layton Christian and Wasatch Academy, two packages rife with measurement and talent, naturally got here right down to the stingier of two defenses.
Serbian heart Vuk Lazarevic, at 7-foot-1, wasn’t enjoying the 5 for charity both, main Wasatch to bottle up the Eagles 62-45 on Tuesday for a fifteenth consecutive sequence win since 2012.
Lazarevic, selecting up 12 factors for himself, and 4 different Tigers dipped into double-figure scoring in simply LCA’s third regular-season loss. Junior County’s 15 team-high factors led Wasatch (12-5), the No. 4 staff in the state by MaxPreps, from the area and the free-throw line (4 of 4).
Forty-five factors is nineteen.8 beneath LCA’s season common.
“This is our biggest game, basically of the season,” LCA senior Nikola Janicic, initially from North Macedonia, stated. “I think, obviously, we were excited, but I think as the season goes we’re going to get better and better. … (Wasatch) is a very good team and we’ve got to give them credit.”
The Eagles (15-3), ranked No. 2 in the state by MaxPreps earlier than Tuesday’s loss, struggled to thwart the bevy of names Wasatch can throw inside. Third-year LCA coach Casey Stanley constructed upon his senior ahead’s view, and particularly pointed to how individualistic his defense appeared.
“They were paint-touching really well,” Stanley stated. “I thought our guys, they were on their own island. They weren’t helping each other. They were kind of playing four or five one-on-one games (and) that hurts us. We’ve got to be a team defensive unit (and) we’ve got to be better if we want to compete at that level.”
Picking up three 3s in the first quarter, senior ahead Nikola Janicic (13 factors) seemed to be in retailer for large issues after main the Eagles to an 18-15 lead; the 6-foot-4 wing then went silent by means of the finish of the opening half.
Janicic and senior guard Gabriel Sularski (9 factors, a four-star prospect and formerly the second-highest rated recruit out of Illinois, mixed for 13 in the first quarter, however ran ashore over the subsequent 8 minutes. Two LCA bigs — senior Emilis Zibuda (eight complete factors) and Estonian junior Roman Avdejev (six factors) — managed simply six second-quarter factors for LCA, and the Eagles trailed Wasatch 33-24 at the half.
County, unloading 4 free throws and 5 extra factors from the area in the third quarter, stored the pedal down on LCA in the third quarter. Zibuda would strike behind the arc for the first time, and the Eagles’ bench in chipped 5 factors, however Wasatch held its result in 11 by the last body.
Janicic was essential of his staff’s defensive effort on Tuesday, and particularly how usually they left Wasatch clearly marked lanes to the basket.
“The back doors, everything we didn’t cover,” Janicic stated. “Everyone was trying to show what we could do (and) we fell short, but I think the biggest part in that is the defense.”
Janicic’s fourth and last triple drew the Eagles inside a single-digit deficit one final time early into the fourth quarter, however Lazarevic broke into double figures with two Wasatch baskets, Chidi Nwigwe added two extra and Strahinja Zelic added a bench two to stamp out the season’s twelfth win.
Matija Moravecevic added 4 factors for LCA. Joost Dalgaard chipped in three and Osaigbovo Aguebor’s 1-of-4 free-throw capturing grabbed one.
LCA falls to 2-2 in January. The Eagle will get one other have a look at Wasatch to finish the common season on Feb. 25 in Mt. Pleasant. This last stretch of the season consists of key dwelling dates with native powers Timpview (Jan. 31) and Layton (Feb. 13).
With Tuesday’s loss, Stanley hopes his staff can begin treating these exams as simply that: exams.
“I think what hurt us the most at times was their name,” Stanley stated. “I think some of our guys were intimidated by the stage, and by the quality of their players. I don’t think we executed. I think we got, offensively, the looks that we wanted at times, but they weren’t falling and I think part of that comes with the mystique that is Wasatch.”
Connect with prep sports activities reporter Conner Becker by way of electronic mail at [email protected] and X @ctbecker.