Prep Sports: Journey to the Top

Spanish Fork beat Mountain Crest 28-26, 15-25, 25-12, 25-20 in the last first round game of the day. Here is how the quarterfinals look.

Dixe vs. Mountain View

This game is going on right now and Dixie is up two games. Mountain View is a scrappy team though and won't go down quietly.

Sky View vs. Highland

Bountiful vs. Snow Canyon

Spanish Fork vs. Lehi

This will be the best match-up of the quarterfinals. Lehi beat out Olympus but it wasn't easy. It took five games and the final score was 34-32 22-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-11.

The quarterfinals for Class 5A is just starting. Lone Peak and Northridge is getting ready to play. Here's what the 5A brackets look like.

Lone Peak vs. Northridge

Davis vs. Brighton

Layton vs. Pleasant Grove

Bingham vs. Cottonwood

--Maggie Thach

We're about a little more than halfway through with the first rounds of the Class 4A and Class 5A state tournament here at UVU and there have been some surprising scores so far.

In Class 5A,  Lone Peak easily advances with a 25-19, 25-21, 25-19 victory over Taylorsville this morning. Northridge, the No. 1 seed from Region 1 battled against Murray and came out on top 22-25, 25-19, 25-5, 25-9. In the upset of the day so far, Davis — the No. 4 seed from Region 1 — beat Hunter —the No. 1 seed from Region 2 — 25, 18, 23-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-13. That has slowed things  a bit at UVU.  Layton surprisingly swept Skyline 25-14, 25-22, 25-23.

In 4A, outcomes have been predictable. Mountain View beat Stansbury 25-19, 25-20, 25-20 an Sky View took care of Uintah 25,22, 8-25, 25-22, 26-24. The top seed from Region 6, Highland, had no trouble against West Lake as it beat the first-year program 25-15, 25-17, 25-12. Bountiful came out ahead 25-19, 25-13, 25-17 over Box Elder. I expected more competition in the Dixie/Springville match up but the Flyers won in three, 25-18, 27-25, 25-19. There's an intense game going on right now in the most intriguing match-up in the Class 4A first round between Olympus and Lehi.

More scores to come......

--Maggie Thach

A few surprises and I went on a limb and picked a few upsets. Have at them and have fun discussing. 

Class 5A

Cottonwood at Alta – Jones's pick: Alta

Hawks destroyed the Colts in first week. More of the same here

Syracuse at Bingham – Jones's pick: Bingham

Miners much too strong offensively to stumble here

Pleasant Grove at Davis – Jones's pick: Davis

A bit of an upset here, but Darts advance here

Lone Peak at Hunter – Jones's pick: Lone Peak

The Knights can advance all the way to title game

Class 4A

Mountain Crest at Highland – Jones's pick: Mountain Crest

This figures to be a shootout. The Mustangs love shootouts

Spanish Fork at Timpview – Jones's pick: Timpview

Dons are good, but Timpview's on another level

Bonneville at Dixie – Jones's pick: Bonneville

Love the Lakers defense. That proves to be difference here

Woods Cross at Springville – Jones's pick: Springville

Red Devils continue dream season

Class 3A

Morgan at Hurricane – Jones's pick: Hurricane

Hurricane's good enough to make it back to title game

Cedar at Juan Diego – Jones's pick: Juan Diego

Juan Diego's good enough to repeat as state champs

Delta at Park City – Jones's pick: Park City

This may not be close

Bear River at Wasatch – Jones's pick: Bear River

Wasatch ride ends here

Class 2A

San Juan vs. South Sevier – Jones's pick: South Sevier

SS makes the title game

Grand vs. South Summit – Jones's pick: South Summit

Balance is the key for this team

Class 1A

Duchesne vs. Monticello – Jones's pick: Duchesne

By a landslide

Altamont vs. Rich – Jones's pick: Rich

Rich is the title favorite in this class

Friday

Utah Valley University

Class 5A

Taylorsville vs. Lone Peak, 9 a.m.

Northridge vs. Murray, 10:30 a.m.

Hunter vs. Davis, 10:30 a.m.

Brighton vs. Riverton, 9 a.m.

Skyline vs. Layton, 12:15 p.m.

Pleasant Grove vs. Weber, 1:45 p.m.

Bingham Alta, 1:45 p.m.

Syracuse vs. Cottonwood, 12:15 p.m.

Class 4A

Dixie vs. Springville, 9 a.m.

Mountain View vs. Stansbury, 10:30 a.m.

Sky View vs. Uintah, 10:30 a.m.

Highland vs. Westlake, 9 a.m.

Box Elder vs. Bountiful, 12:15 p.m.

Snow Canyon vs. Orem, 1:45 p.m.

Spanish Fork vs. Mountain Crest, 1:45 p.m.

Lehi vs. Olympus, 12:15 p.m.

The second round of the postseason is when things start to heat up. The first round is a thing of the past, and everyone still alive is usually very good. So we at the Tribune got to wondering which are the games that are absolutely must see? Starting with Class 5A, we'll review the three major classes. 

1) Pleasant Grove at Davis - Last year, the Vikings were tripped up in this round by Syracuse, and rest be assured they don't want to lose in this same spot. They'll encounter the same issues. Tanner Hinds is a great running back, Davis plays very good defense, and the Darts have one of the best fan bases in the state. What Pleasant Grove has that it didn't have a season ago is a game changer in Joe Kruger on the defensive line. That and the Vikings are ultra athletic leads me to believe that PG will prevail in a close game. 

2) Lone Peak at Hunter - Love this matchup. Hunter runs the ball like few teams in the state, the Wolverines haven't lost in forever, and they have a great great offensive line. Lone Peak's solid defensively, has a great quarterback in Tannon Pedersen and is itching to advance to the final four. Another great matchup this is and one which the winner will have earned its way to the state semifinals. 

Tony Jones