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CEDAR CITY — As the fifth seed in 2A boys basketball, the North Summit Braves toppled top-seeded Kanab Cowboys in a semifinal matchup.
The Braves earned its 50-47 win on the back of center Buck Sargent, who led all scorers with his 20 points, partially by drawing foul after foul to get to the charity stripe. Sargent was granted 18 free-throw opportunities, but was only able to capitalize on six of them.
The rest of his 14 points came in the paint, where he also collected 16 rebounds.
Kale Glover picked up 12 points for the Cowboys off a handful of 3-pointers, but his team couldn't string enough shots together to ever take the lead.
The Braves doubled the Cowboys' points in the first quarter, though it was a relatively low-scoring affair, to take an early 12-6 lead. But Kanab started to wake up in the second quarter and outscored its opponents 15-9.
James Quinn and Trajen Glazier combined for 8 points in the period to give the Cowboys the boost they needed to enter the break tied at 21-21.
North Summit held Kanab scoreless for over three minutes to start the second half. It was the Braves best quarter of the game, as they put up 16 of their own points while holding Kanab to just 6. There were 14 attempted free throws between the two teams in the period, but nearly half of them were missed.
Trailing 37-27 headed into the fourth, Kanab and the Cowboy faithful refused to go down without a fight. They put up 20 points in the final eight minutes, bringing the game down to the last second.
While the Braves continued to attack inside, the Cowboys opted to go for jumpers. They fought until it was a one-score game — the lead slipping from North Summit's grasp.
With just seconds on the clock and a 2-point lead, North Summit's Steele Vernon had an opportunity to put the game away at the free-throw line but missed the first of his two shots, letting Kanab hang on to whatever hope they had left. Glover missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Braves celebrated on the court.
North Summit will now set their sights on the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m.
