This week, the Region 5 boys basketball schedules get fully underway. Last week, a couple of league teams started the region battles, but this week Bountiful, Woods Cross and Viewmont all dive into that important part of the schedule. 

Meanwhile, in Region 1, Davis is four games into the league slate, having won every contest so far. Farmington enters this week at 2-1 in Region 1 games. 

Woods Cross

The Wildcats are 7-5 overall and began Region 5 action with a home contest with Bountiful on Wednesday. The Wildcats didn’t play last week but are eager for just their second game of the 2022 calendar year. The squad’s last game was a 49-46 victory over Cedar Valley on Jan. 7. 

Woods Cross has two players averaging in double figures in scoring, both of whom are juniors. Mason Bendinger is averaging 16.3 points an outing, while Jaxon Smith scores 15.5 points per game. Smith also has the most three-pointers on the team with 24 through 12 games. 

So far, the Wildcats have been balanced in rebounding, with 6-foot-7-inch Nic Hogan leading the way with 4.8 rebounds a game. Junior forward Alex Brey pulls down 4.1 boards a contest. Senior Zach Delange is the leader in assists with 2.7 per game. 

The Wildcats next host Northridge on Friday. 

Bountiful

At 5-6, the Redhawks are looking to start region play like they started the season. Bountiful was 3-0 but then had a 2-6 slide since. 

Bountiful does move into the region portion of the schedule on a winning note. The Redhawks defeated Herriman 68-55 on Jan. 11. The third quarter was a big one for the Redhawks in which the team outscored the Mustangs 22-10 to take a 10-point lead into the final quarter. Sam Stevenson was the leading scorer in the game with 21 points. Carson Smith added 14 points, and Tavan Russell and Arturo Garcia each contributed 10 points. Stevenson also added to his stat line with seven assists, five rebounds and five steals. 

The Redhawks will host Box Elder on Friday two days after the Region 5 opener at Woods Cross on Wednesday (after our press deadline). 

Viewmont

Viewmont entered this week having not played since falling at home to Riverton on Jan. 7 by the score of 74-56. Now at 5-8, the Vikings have a fresh start with region play beginning. 

The Vikings are 2-2 in their last four games. Three players are topping 11 points per game, with senior guard Radek Pulsipher leading the way with 15.9 a game. Zach Robison, a junior guard, scores 13.2 points a clip, while junior forward Scott Noel scores 11.7 points an outing. Noel is also the leading rebounder with 5.9 points a game. 

Viewmont played at Northridge on Wednesday and then hosts Bonneville on Friday. 

Davis

In Region 1 of Class 6A, Davis keeps on doing what it has done for the last couple of years: win. No one has been able to topple the Darts so far this season. At 15-0 overall and 4-0 in league play, Davis began this week having won 27 games dating back to last season. 

Last week, the Darts beat Syracuse 63-50 on Jan. 11 and edged Weber 49-45 at home on Jan. 14. Against Syracuse, Davis used a 15-5 second quarter to build a strong lead. Davis struggled a bit from the foul line, going 12 of 19 but shot 50% from the floor. Maxwell Painter had a team-high 17 points, while Sawyer Cottrell scored 15. Rex Sunderland added an additional 13 points and had a team-leading six assists. Henry Ihrig cleaned the glass with six rebounds. 

In the win over Weber, both defenses played well. The Darts were down 23-20 at halftime but outscored the Warriors 29-22 the rest of the way. Davis shot just 18 of 46 from the floor, but Weber made only six of its 15 foul shots. Sunderland had 15 points and six rebounds. Colby Sims and Painter each had 10 points. 

Davis will try to add to its win streak this week with a game at home against Clearfield on Friday. 

Farmington

The Phoenix are trying to keep pace with Davis, having started off 2-1 in Region 1. Overall, the Phoenix are 7-6 having defeated Layton 69-66 on the road in last week’s only game on Jan. 11. 

In that contest, Farmington built a 34-24 halftime advantage before Layton chipped away. The Lancers cut the margin down to seven by the start of the fourth and made things interesting over the final six minutes. However, Farmington rode Colin Chandler and his 24 points to victory. Chandler also had six rebounds and a pair of assists. But the best overall night may have belonged to Paul Beattie. The sophomore forward had 10 points and collected an impressive 14 rebounds. Devin Day also had 14 points on the evening. 

The Phoenix played at Syracuse on Tuesday and next host Weber on Friday.