A big showdown in Region took place on Tuesday, a contest that had the Region 1 lead on the line. 

Davis came up just short. 

The Darts fell to Layton 73-71 on the road, barely missing the opportunity to hand the Lancers their first region loss of the season. Coming into the game, Layton was 6-0 in league play, while Davis was 5-1. A Darts’ win would have left both teams at 6-1 in the standings. 

The setback dropped Davis to second in Region 1 and in fifth place in the Class 6A RPI rankings. Both Davis losses in region play have been to Layton; the other loss was also a two-point defeat, 72-70 on Jan. 16. 

Davis had a big second quarter, outscoring the Lancers 28-19 to go up 38-35 at halftime. It was 57-54 in favor of Davis heading into the fourth quarter. Over the final six minutes, Layton outscored the Darts 19-14. 

Zach Fisher had 19 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for Davis. Tradon Bessinger had 18 points and five rebounds. Coleman Atwater chipped in 13 points. Meanwhile, Ike Morgan wasn’t all that far away from achieving a triple-double. He had 12 points, six rebounds and nine assists. 

On Feb. 2, Davis prepped for its game with Layton by defeating Fremont 52-45. Davis made 17 of 41 shots from the floor and held Fremont to 18 of 45. The Darts got 11 points from Bessinger and 10 points from Morgan. Atwater also had 10 points, and he added five rebounds and three assists in the win. 

Davis plays at Syracuse on Friday. 

Farmington 

The Phoenix are now 2-7 in region play, five games back in the Region 1 standings. Overall, Farmington is 11-8. It has been a rough stretch for the Phoenix who are 1-5 in their last five games. 

Farmington lost at home to Weber, 55-48, on Feb. 2 despite making a late rally. The Phoenix were on the wrong end of a 21-8 blitz in the third quarter by Weber but outscored the Warriors 15-9 to make things interesting down the stretch. Jayden Haskell had 17 points to lead Farmington. Paul Beattie had 15 for the Phoenix. 

Another loss followed on Feb. 6, this time on the road. Farmington fell to Fremont 67-55 in what was a tough second half for the Phoenix. Up 37-32 at the break, Farmington had just 18 points in the second half while giving up 35. 

Braden Larsen had four three-pointers on the way to scoring a team-high 18 points for the Phoenix. Beattie tallied 13 points, and Ethan Atkinson chipped in 10 points. 

Farmington hosts league-leading Layton on Friday and then travels to Davis next Tuesday in a game between the rivals. Farmington currently sits at No. 10 in the Class 6A RPI rankings.