This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It seemed to be a mismatch before tipoff.
Fresh off last season's Class 3-A title, Judge opened the season with wins over Taylorsville and East. The Beetdiggers, who missed last year's 5-A playoffs, were supposed to play the role of another high-profile victim.
But Jordan refused to accept the idea of leaving a defending state champion's home gym with a loss. Even when trailing by double digits entering the fourth quarter Friday night.
"We made a promise to ourselves in the huddle after the third quarter that we were going to come back through defense and rebounds," Jordan senior Erik Soderborg said.
The Beetdiggers did just that, crashing boards and cooling off Judge's hot shooters enough to rally from a 10-point deficit and upset the Bulldogs 67-64.
Soderborg sparked the rally with clutch back-to-back three-pointers. It turned a 61-55 Judge lead into a 61-61 tie with 1:57 remaining. Chase Richards capped off the rally with a pair of layups which put Jordan ahead for good with less than a minute remaining.
Beetdiggers coach Dave McConnell can think of few players more worthy of delivering late-game heroics than Soderborg - who led Jordan with 18 points - because of the intense preparation he puts in each week.
"He's practiced harder and shot more basketballs than anybody I know," McConnell said. "He comes to school early every morning and shoots."
The Bulldogs, who had repeatedly drained shots inside and outside for three quarters, went ice cold after Jaxon Myaer's three-pointer put them temporarily ahead, 64-63, with 1:38 left. Judge missed its last four shots from the field and Dominque Parker also misfired on two free throws with 14.4 seconds remaining that could have given the Bulldogs a one-point lead.
Jordan worked hard to keep the tempo going at blistering speeds early in the game, hoping all the running would eventually wear Judge down.
The Bulldogs stayed in front for much of the game, in large part because of junior center Noel Hollingsworth.
Hollingsworth looked dominant, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Seven of those rebounds came during the third quarter alone, when Judge built up its largest lead at 54-44.
Jordan 67, Judge 64
* The Beetdiggers rallied from a 10-point deficit at the beginning of the fourth quarter to upset the defending 3-A champs.
* Erik Soderborg Ð who led Jordan with 18 points - sparked the rally with consecutive three-pointers.