High school boys basketball: A Titan Triple — Olympus slips past Bountiful in tense 5A final for 3-peat

For the first 18 years of his coaching career, Matt Barnes was celebrated as a great coach but someone who couldn’t get his teams over the hump in the playoffs.

Now, he’s quickly inching his way up the state record books as one of the best ever.

Barnes coached Olympus to its sixth state title in the past 11 years on Friday night in a tense 5A final at the University of Utah, with the Titans pulling away in the final minute for the 53-46 victory over Bountiful.

Olympus beat Bountiful twice during the regular season, but the championship matchup was tight throughout, with nine ties and 14 led changes.

It wasn’t until the final 16 seconds, when Oliver Clarke drained two free throws giving the Titans a four-point cushion, that the Titans could start to sense that the 3-peat was about to become a reality.

Olympus becomes the seventh program in state history to win three straight championships. Lone Peak holds the record with four from 2011-2014.

“People always ask me, ‘What’s the favorite one?’ or whatever. They all have special meaning, but this one, you know, to come back three in a row, Gavin (Lowe’s) last year, it’s pretty awesome,” said Barnes, whose six coaching state titles are tied for the third most in state history.

Incredibly, on six of those titles, Olympus has cut down the nets at the Huntsman Center, where the Titans have won an incredible 18 straight games dating back to a semifinal loss to Bountiful in 2014. Olympus won the 2022 title at BYU, but the quarterfinals and semifinal games were played at Utah.

Earlier this season the Olympus administration had a ceremony officially naming Olympus High School’s court Matt Barnes Court. During Friday’s postgame celebrations, Olympus athletic director Kael Ashton joked that the Huntsman Center is also Matt Barnes Court.

“I just cherish every year,” Barnes said. “I’ve been so fortunate to coach there for so many years and I’ve had so many great teams come and go and we’ve never been able to win it. Won it back in ’16 and the luck we’ve had and the love that’s gone our way and the belief my kids have, it’s crazy.”

Olympus beat Bountiful by 24 and 14 points earlier this year, but right out of the gates on Friday it became clear that this game would be different.

Bountiful played great in double-digit quarterfinal and semifinal wins earlier this week at the U., and that carried over to the final.

The Redhawks led 14-13 after the first quarter, and then maintained that one-point lead at the half, 27-26, as it shot 46% from the field.

“We talked about cutting hard and when you’re open, let it go. We weren’t going down not firing, so when we had a chance. We said ‘Let it go, let it fly,” said Bountiful coach Brett Hewlett.

Bountiful only turned the ball over once in the first half, but Olympus came out in the second half determined to change that with an early full-court pressure.

It cause some early troubles, as the Redhawks had three early turnovers which helped Olympus open the half on an 8-4 run.

Bountiful settled in, scoring two quick buckets to take a 35-34 lead with under three minutes left in the third quarter, but Caden Jackson hit a big 3-pointer and then Lowe scored at the rim in the final seconds as the Titans pulled ahead 39-35 heading into the fourth quarter.

The back-and-forth continued in the fourth quarter, with Bountiful quickly tying the game 39-39, but Olympus punched back with a 7-3 run to stretch the lead to 46-42 with three minutes remaining.

It wasn’t a huge lead, but in a game that had taken on a defensive tone in the second half, it was significant.

“it was a defensive game. We had to play tough. We haven’t had the best offensive night these past two nights, but we’ve been tough, we played hard, we controlled the boards and what we have to do to win these type of games,” said Lowe, who finished with a game-high 16 points despite a rough 4 of 18 night shooting.

Lowe missed his final three shots, including two during a two-minute lull in which no one scored after Olympus built the 46-42 lead.

Bountiful’s Lincoln Smith ended the drought with a huge 3-pointer coming out of timeout to cut the lead to 46-45 with only 95 seconds left in the tense final.

Lowe’s dribble penetration helped Olympus stretch the lead back to three as he hit Clarke with a quick pass in the paint, who quickly sent he ball to a cutting Davian Lazarus for the open layup.

Clarke had a monster game with 13 points and 11 rebounds and was active on both ends of the floor.

“That’s my role on this team. I rebound, rim run, block shots. That’s just what I try to do and I guess I got it done tonight,” said Clarke.

Bountiful cut the deficit to 48-46 at the other end with a 1-of-2 trip to the free throw line, but time was still on its side if it could get a defensive stop.

That’s much easier said that done against Lowe, arguably the toughest guard to stay in front of in the state.

Late in the shot clock, Lowe dribbled right along the 3-point line but Bountiful was called for its fourth team foul on a hand check with 16.9 seconds left.

The Redhawks had no choice but to foul after the inbounds pass, and Clarke made both three throws to extend the lead to 50-46.

Hewlett obviously wasn’t happy with the call and the eventual loss, but he was proud that his group was in the game until the final minute against a team it struggled to keep up with earlier this season.

“Like I’ve said all week, all you want is a chance. Thirty seconds to go, shot clock down to two... tough call, but my boys competed, man. They went to war every single game this week and I couldn’t be more proud of what they did out there,” said Hewlett.

“I mean, that’s a good Olympus team. Back-to-back-to-back. Got Gavin Lowe, most likely two-time Mr. Basketball. To go toe-to-toe with them and have a chance, I couldn’t be more proud.”

Smith finished with a team-high 14 points for Bountiful, with Wyatt Crane adding 12 and Davey Howe 10.

Olympus had a 33-23 edge in rebounding, including a 13-4 advantage on the offensive glass, even though it only turned those 13 extra possessions into 10 points as it never really shot the ball well at 34% for the game, and only 29% in the second half.

Lowe admitted that the pressure of the 3-peat might’ve had a factor on the offensive struggles.

“Definitely. I mean, we came in here, everyone expected us to win. We were favored to win in the preseason. We always have a lot of pressure on us,” said Lowe.

“Some people say pressure is a privilege. I think we just got to come out, play our game, have fun, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Lowe reiterated that the work the Titans put in defensively and on the boards was the catalyst in the 3-peat.

Barnes said it was great to send Lowe out a winner after his phenomenal career at Olympus, which ends with 1,699 career points.

“He’s played a different role every year, but the last two years, he’s been the man, and he’s been the guy that our guys have just let him do his thing and play their role,” said Barnes.

“But there’s a lot of pressure on him, you know, coming back this year with Mr. Basketball and everyone wanting a piece of him. You know, he backed it up pretty good.”

Deseret News 6A All-Tournament Team

MVP — Gavin Lowe, Olympus

Adam Bywater, Olympus

Davian Lazarus, Olympus

Lincoln Smith, Bountiful

Davey Howe, Bountiful

Jaxon Brown, Pleasant Grove