Last Tuesday (January 27th) Timpview made their way to Northern Utah to take on Layton Christian Academy.

Layton Christian is one of the better teams in Utah, and has definitely been the best test for Timpview so far inside the state of Utah. Their team was full of big, strong, and talented players from different parts of the world.

With 4 minutes to go in the first half, Timpview was up big, leading the Eagles 29-18. But, coming out of halftime, the game changed quickly. By the end of the 3rd quarter, Timpview’s lead was cut to one point, 44-43. The rest of the game was neck and neck, with many lead changes and short runs.

With 6.3 seconds left in the game, Timpview had the ball down by 1 point. A play was ran for Senior Dean Rueckert to come off a screen and get the ball, but the play was broken up. Instead, Senior Lincoln Holcombe received a pass and made a driving layup to put the Thunderbirds up 1. Layton Christian immediately called a timeout with 4 seconds left in the game.

Layton Christian’s Emilis Zibuda took the ball coast to coast and made a left handed layup as time expired, resulting in a heart wrenching loss for the Thunderbirds.

Overall, Timpview was led by Senior Dean Rueckert, who finished with 25 points and 7 rebounds. This gives Dean an average of 21.6 points per game, which is ranks 13th in the state of Utah.

Luckily, this game was not part of Timpview’s region schedule, as Layton Christian plays as an independent school in the UHSAA.