Better three-point shooting efficiency, rebounding key to Morgan boys basketball’s 3-game win streak

A few days after a 13-point loss to Bear River at home Dec. 15 dropped the Trojans to 2-7 under new head coach Scott Hunt, they needed some luck to start going their way. 

Whatever the magic formula was that transformed Morgan into a juggernaut over the next three games worked. 

The Trojans were barely three days clear of that loss to Bear River when they knocked down 32 shots in a 77-45 pasting of 5A Granger Dec. 18. Six players knocked down at least one three-point shot in the win. 

Morgan [5-7] continued draining threes a night later on Dec. 19 in an 83-57 annihilation of 2A’s APA West Valley. On that night also at home inside Morgan’s gymnasium, Kolton Asay drilled seven threes [25 points]. 

The formula was very similar to the game before it: the Trojans had six players knock down their shots from behind the arc. 

Even a lengthy holiday break of 14 days wouldn’t quell the Trojans ability to hit three-point shots--Asay pumped home five more—as Morgan rolled to its third straight, a 74-59 win over 3A’s Summit Academy Jan. 3. 

But what did change, somewhat, is that the Trojans were not only still making their shots [29] against Summit Academy, but they were also rebounding their missed shots [33] at a very high rate. 

For the season, Bracken Saunders [17.6 points per game] has been the team’s leading scorer in most of the Trojans’ games. Kolton Asay [12.8 ppg] has been coming on of late thanks to several recent impressive scoring outings. 

But the secret behind this 3-game win streak under new head coach Scott Hunt might be in the Trojans’ ability as a team to take threes, make threes, and rebound missed threes. 

Six other Morgan players average between three and six points per game—largely from three-point shots they’re making or putbacks from offensive rebounds. 

A total of nine of Morgan’s players average at least a rebound or more per game, led by Mason Williams who’s come on as of late and has had five or more rebounds over each of his last eight games. Nikolas Preece and Saunders are each averaging four boards for the Trojans. 

It’s that tenacity behind the arc and around the rim that might give these Trojans a fighting chance in region play when it begins this week on January 10 at home versus Ogden and continues at Grantsville on Jan. 12. λ