Lone Peak advanced to the championship game of the 31st Annual Beach Ball Classic with a trhrilling 72-67 double overtime victory over Whitney Young.

The game was more like an old fashioned heavyweight boxing match with both teams throwing haymakers.  The game featured nine ties, 15 lead changes and neither team led by more than seven points at any time.

With the game winding to what appeared to be the end in regulation, Lone Peak (8-1; Highland, UT) held a 56-50 lead with just 53 seconds remaining.  As a big portion of the near capacity crowd made their way toward the exits, Gabriel Snider nailed a long distance 3-pointer and was fouled on the play by Chase Hansen to make it a four-point swing for Whitney Young (6-3; Chicago, IL).  The uncommon four pointer fit with the back and forth play of the rest of the contest, closed the gap to 56-54, and stopped the mass exodus of fans as everyone retured to watch the final seconds unfold.

Lone Peak's Talon Shumway missed the front end of a one-and-one with 30 seconds remaining in regulation.  Jordan Smith grabbed the rebound for Whitney Young and raced down the court only to have his jumper in the lane blocked by Brody Berry.  Whitney Young kept posession as the block went out of bounds.  Smith misfired on a jumper from the wing but Jahlil Okafor grabbed the rebound and layed it through the nets with just four seconds on the clock to tie the score at 56-56.  Following a timeout to set the final play in regulation, Lone Peak's Nick Emery raced down the right side of the court and put up a 29-foot 3-pointer that hit the back of the rim and bounced away to send the game to overtime.

In the first extra session, Whitney Young scored the first four points of the period to open a 60-56 lead with 38 seconds remaining.  Emery then hit two free throws and a 3-point basket after a steal by Berry to grab the lead for Lone Peak at 61-60 with 20 seconds remaining.  Following a layup by Okafor that gave Whitney Young a 62-61 lead with 12 seconds remaining, Emery was fouled as he drove down the court and went to the line with just nine seconds remaining.  Emery, who hit 10-of-12 free throws for the game, made the first but missed his second shot to leave the game tied once against at 62-62.  Whitney Young's trey attempt at the buzzer by Keith Langston missed the mark to send the game to the second overtime.

Emery opened the scoring in the second OT with a pair of freebies before the Dolphins' Okafor hit a turnaround jumper in the lane to again knot the score at 64-64.  It was all Lone Peak the rest of the way as the Knights scored six unanswered to match their largest lead at 70-64 with just 17 seconds remaining.  Whitney Young connected on just 1-of-4 from the field and turned the ball over twice in the final 1:55.

Emery led all scorers with 29 points while teammate T.J. Haws added 26 points for Lone Peak.  Whitney Young was led by Okafor's 28 points and 14 rebounds.

Box Score

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