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It took five long minutes for the Bountiful High School boys' basketball team to put a point on the board. The Braves were outmuscled, outshot, outrebounded and, at times it appeared as though the home team was simply down a player or two to the visiting East High Panthers.

Yet it was Bountiful, which trailed by as many as 10 late in the first half, that posted a frantic second-half surge to come away with a 59-50 win.

All it took was a firm locker room chat.

"I chewed them out at halftime," Bountiful coach Mike Maxell said about his team's second-half resurrection. "I said, 'Quit being pretty and play hard. If you bring the fire, everything else will happen for us,' and we did in the second half."

No one brought the fire more than senior guard Nick Williams, who after failing to score in the first half, erupted for eight unanswered points in the third quarter to give the home team its first lead of the night.

Williams' second-half charge, which culminated in 16 points, was aided by a relentless Bountiful full-court defense that forced 26 East turnovers.

"Coach just told me to go to the rim," Williams said. "It kind of lit a fire under us to get going."

For their part, East dominated the first half, largely by imposing the same kind of stifling defense Bountiful (8-2, 1-0) so successfully implemented in the second half.

It helped that East had sharp-shooting senior forward Jack Larson working for them. Larson led the Leopards in scoring with 20 points, 14 of which came from free throws.

Despite Bountiful's stellar play in the second half, East (8-3, 1-1) kept it close. With four minutes remaining, the game was tied 45-45. But any hope East had of pulling out a win faded in the final minutes when Bountiful's McKay LaSalle, who scored 21 on the night, and John Maxwell, nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch the lead to 53-45. —

Storylines Slow start doesn't slow Braves

R Bountiful doesn't score a point until five minutes have ticked off the clock.

• Trailing 28-22 at the half, Bountiful's Nick Williams comes out in the second half firing, scoring eight unanswered points to give his team its first lead.