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Olympus proves Corner Canyon's kryptonite for second consecutive season

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Corner Canyon's head coach Dan Lunt. Olympus plays Corner Canyon for the 5A High School BoysÕ Basketball Tournament Championship at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Saturday, March 3, 2018.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Corner Canyon's head coach Dan Lunt. Olympus plays Corner Canyon for the 5A High School BoysÕ Basketball Tournament Championship at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Saturday, March 3, 2018.

Corner Canyon quickly has developed into a basketball force in the school’s first five years.

Unfortunately for the Chargers, Olympus has ended their last two seasons. This year’s Corner Canyon squad had no answer for Harrison Creer, Utah commit Rylan Jones and the high-power Olympus offense, falling in the state title game 76-49.

The outcome may not have been the desired one, but Corner Canyon coach Dan Lunt likes his team’s trajectory after reaching the state semifinals in 2017 and the title game this year.

“I thought we had a great season,” he said. “Obviously our goal is to win the championship. There is only one team that comes away happy at the end of the year, and that’s the state champion. We return four out of our five starters, so we have aspirations and high goals, and I am just incredibly proud of every kid in the program.”

Olympus outscored Corner Canyon 25-9 in the second quarter, thanks in large part to the hot shooting of Creer and Jones. The hot shooting would result in Olympus taking a big 46-24 lead into halftime.

“Olympus is a really good team,” Lunt said. “The thing that makes them so good is that there’s five people on the floor that can shot from behind the arc, and they spread the floor really well. They’re a great example of team basketball, and they played outstanding today.”

Corner Canyon led Olympus by 25 points in the second quarter of last year’s state semifinals, but there was no Chargers lead anything like this time time.

“After the game, I just told them how proud I was of them,” Lunt said. “I took this job two years ago, and it’s been a fun journey. This senior class has now experienced a semifinal run and a championship game, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

By Tommy Bailey