Whitehorse edges region rival MV in nailbiter

OLJATO, UTAH – A packed house was treated to an exciting game.

Whitehorse freshman Adam Joe connected on two free throws with one second left to lift the Raiders to a 60-58 come-from-behind win over region rival Monument Valley on Friday night.

Prior to his made free throws, Joe had connected on 1-of-4 at the charity line earlier in the contest.

“I know he kind of struggled the whole game with free throws, but he knocked those last two with confidence,” Whitehorse coach Evan Grant said. “When it came down to it, he made the two biggest free throws of his career.”

The two Utah rivals played before a sold-out crowd as the doors were closed before the start of the varsity boys contest at Monument Valley High School.

“This place was already packed before the first (JV) game,” Grant said. “It’s just the way it is when we play Monument Valley. In the past, we’ve had people sit outside hours before the game just to get in.”

The capacity crowd of roughly 800 fans was treated to an scintillating finish as the last quarter featured six ties and three lead changes.

The two teams entered the fourth period at a 43-all stalemate. The teams traded buckets before Monument Valley senior Joshua Hicks pumped in five of his team-best 22 points in a 54-second span.

Hicks’s old-fashioned three-point play earned MV a 50-45 cushion with 5:37 left in the game. Then, behind a 7-2 spark, Whitehorse tied the game at 52-all after senior Lyric Phillips hit a clutch three near the top of the key with just under three minutes left.

The two squads traded scores for the remainder of the game until the Cougars (5-13) fouled Joe with one second left. Joe’s two made free throws earned the Raiders a hard-fought two-point win.

Whitehorse was led by Phillips as he finished with a game-high 30 points despite MV’s efforts to slow him down.

With a box-and-one defense, the Cougars held Phillips scoreless for the first eight minutes. But in the second stanza he hit four treys and scored 16 points as Whitehorse took a 32-31 halftime lead.

“I had to work for every point tonight,” said Phillips, who needs 63 more points to hit the 1000-point plateau. “They had one guy (Braxton Goodshield) on me the whole night and I have to give him credit. He made me work.”

Entering the MV game, Phillips had amassed 907 points. He now has six regular season games remaining to eclipse the 1000-point mark.

“He’s getting pretty close to that,” Grant said, while noting that not too many athletes at Whitehorse have accomplished that feat.

It’s worth mentioning that Phillips has scored that many points in three seasons as his freshman season was cut short due to COVID when MV didn’t have a season.

“I’ve never really thought about getting close to 1000 points, especially in three seasons,” Phillips said. “My coach just told me that I was getting close and now that I’m (63 points) away I want to hit that before the season is over.”

The two-point win improves Whitehorse’s record to 8-8 overall and 2-3 in the 1A Region 19 race as the Raiders are holding down the third spot behind frontrunners Green River (5-0) and Monticello (3-1).

Monument Valley is in fourth place at 1-3 followed by Pinnacle (0-4) in the five-team region.

“Anytime we can beat Monument Valley it’s always a boost for our team,” Grant said. “With our record, the best we can finish is in second place, so every win matters when it comes to our state seedings.”

The Utah High School Activities Association has Whitehorse ranked No. 12 in Tuesday’s 1A RPI ratings. Monument Valley, meanwhile, is listed at No. 18.

“We want to be somewhere in the top 10 to get a first-round bye,” Grant said. “If we win out, I think we can get there.”

---