BOUNTIFUL -- The Bountiful Braves received a lesson in basketball from one of the top teams in the state Friday night, falling to the Olympus Titans 58-35. After the game, Bountiful Head Coach Mike Maxwell said simply, "We played a better team. They're a little better than we are right now, and they play with a lot more confidence, and they deserved to win." "There's a reason they are ranked where they are, and they showed it tonight." Indeed the Titans, currently ranked number two in the state, showed immediately why they are one of the best teams in 4A.

As the game began, the Bountiful defense did a very good job of pressuring Olympus star Shaun Green, who has averaged 21.8 points per game for the 17-1 Titans, but Green and the Titans did a good job of being patient and rotating the ball, until they were able to find the open man and get a high percentage shot.

That open man was Matt Back, to begin the game, who scored on the first two Olym-pus possessions to give his team a 5-0 lead. Olympus scored on their first five possessions in fact, and after a Nate Van-Vranken three-pointer with under five minutes remaining, the Titans held a 12-2 lead. After that the Braves were able to slow things down and control the clock for the remainder of the quarter, but after the first period ended the Braves were already looking at a 15-3 deficit.

The Braves refused to give up as the second quarter began and after some clutch shots by Anthony Hewlett had whittled the Titans' lead down to 21-13, Green connected on a three-pointer and stole back the momentum that the Braves had been building. Throughout the second quarter things had been heating up between Green and Braves' low-post players Ben Aird and Nick Binks. Some elbows were thrown, which led both coaches to complain, and then after the Green three-pointer, with four minutes remaining in the half, the coaches exploded with a face-to-face verbal confrontation at half court, originally initiated by Coach Maxwell. And although the altercation ended with no technical fouls given, the message from Maxwell to the Braves had been sent loud and clear--they needed to fight if they were going to cut into the Titans' lead before the second quarter ended.

Broc Wallace was able to score on a tough lay-up while being fouled by Green and was able to convert the three-point play to pull the Braves to within 24-18, and moments later Wallace and Josh Taylor ran a give-and-go on a fast break perfectly to cut the lead to 24-20. The Titans were able to score one final free throw before the half ended and went into the half holding a 25-20 advantage, though the Braves held all the momentum.

Green, who struggled in the second quarter after tussling with the Braves' big men, had only five points at the half and was visibly frustrated by the raucous Braves crowd. But as the second half began the Titans were able to regroup and retake control of the game. Green set the tone for the Titans, hitting a three-pointer from the corner to begin the half and a few minutes later was able to connect on another three while being fouled. After completing the four-point play, the Titans extended their shrinking lead to 39-23, thanks to 5-5 shooting from the field.

For the Braves, seeing the Titans' lead once again grow to double digits seemed to take them out of their game, and after turning to three-pointers to try to keep it close, they only put themselves into a bigger hole.

"I think we kind of panicked out there after they built the lead back up," said Maxwell, "We tried to hit a lot of threes and we're not a three-point shooting team, and things went from bad to worse."

By the time the third quarter had ended, the Braves tied a school record for least points in a quarter with only two, and the Titans had a commanding 43-23 lead.

As the fourth quarter began the Titans continued to hit open shots, while the Braves struggled with turnovers and quickly the game turned ugly. Event-ually the Titans walked away with a 58-35 victory. Green finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Titans, along with three other players who reached double figures. Aird led the Braves with 13 points and six rebounds in a losing effort.

Although it was a disappointing loss for the Braves, after the game Coach Maxwell said that the loss would be a learning experience for his young team. "That's the kind of team we want to be," said Maxwell, "They know their strengths and they attack you with their strengths. Hopefully we can learn from this game and use it to get some victories in region and try to get into the tournament in March."

With the loss the Braves fell to 4-5 in conference, which leaves them in a three-way tie for fourth place in region with West and Woods Cross. The next week will be a good chance for the Braves to try to move up in the standings as they play West, who is also 4-5 and Cyprus, who is just 2-7, before they visit Woods Cross on Feb. 17 in what should be a great rivalry game with both teams fighting for a place in the tournament.