Sandy • Dyson Koehler admitted he simply was in the right place at the right time. But his Jordan teammates and fans will remember Friday’s finish for much more than that.
The sophomore forward scooped up a blocked shot and banked in the winning basket as time expired to beat Corner Canyon 40-38 and give Jordan at least a share of the Region 7 title.
“It’s unbelievable,” Koehler said. “I needed to do something. I had to find a way to score.”
@JordanHS’s Dyson Koehler picks up the blocked shot and banks it in to beat the buzzer and @BasketballCCHS in Region 7 game. Diggers win it, 40-38. #tribpreps pic.twitter.com/iTafHo0cdx
— Jon Clifford (@JCliff_Reports) February 17, 2018
Jordan (14-9, 8-2) will need help to clinch the region title outright. Timpview (7-2 in region) swept the Beetdiggers and will be the region’s top seed at the Class 5A state tournament with a win Tuesday at Alta.
The Beetdiggers remained at the top of the standings largely because of Koehler’s play in the fourth quarter. The team’s leading scorer (15.9 ppg entering Friday) had just one basket through three quarters.
But he scored eight of Jordan’s nine points in the final period, including the tying basket with 2:10 to go. After a timeout with 13.4 seconds remaining, Jordan coach Trace Bevell drew up a play to get Koehler the ball for a shot with about 6 seconds left.
Corner Canyon’s defense collapsed on Koehler and forced some improvisation. Senior guard Joe Dumsa drove into the lane with 3 seconds left, slammed into Chargers center Hayden Welling and had his shot blocked.
The ball bounced right to Koehler, who released his shot with 0.3 on the clock.
“It’s really amazing,” Koehler said. “I have no words.”
Jordan scored 80 points in the first meeting with Corner Canyon (12-9, 5-5) in a back-and-forth sprint last month. The teams settled in on the defensive end and each team struggled from the perimeter Friday.
“They manned us at their place,” Bevell said. “We attacked, attacked, attacked. The best offense we’ve done was at their place. But teams go to a zone against us and force us to shoot from the outside. We have to be patient.
“We made the shot when we had to.”
Gabe Toombs scored a game-high 17 points for the Chargers. Chandler Dean had 12 points for Jordan.
JORDAN 40, CORNER CANYON 38 <br>• Dyson Koehler’s buzzer-beating bank shot sends fans into a frenzy and secures Jordan at least a share of the Region 7 title. <br>• Gabe Toombs scores a game-high 17 points for Corner Canyon, which will be the No. 3 seed out of Region 7 in the Class 5A state tournament later this month. <br>• Jordan hasn’t won eight region games since 2003-04, and hasn’t claimed a region title since before then.
