The great thing about losing one game during the preseason is that there is usually an opportunity to win the next one and learn from past mistakes. 

That’s what the Cottonwood Colts boys basketball team was able to do this past December at the Tournament of Champions. 

Played at Corner Canyon High School in Draper, it pitted some of the region’s top high school teams against each other. 

Over three days of action, they got to find out how they matched up against teams they probably might not play in the regular season—if ever. 

For the Colts, they’ll now go into their Region 10 slate with a win streak. 

Cottonwood [4-3 at press time] opened the three-day tournament at Corner Canyon on Dec. 5 with a 65-52 win over a Provo team out of Class 4A that the Colts could see again, come state playoff time. 

Big man Luka Cecez poured in 17 points, had six blocks and hauled in five rebounds, as the 6-foot-8 sophomore sensation proved to be too much for the Bulldogs out of Utah County. Senior John Rosevear contributed 14 points, and two-sport athlete Bo Smith had 13 points to go with nine rebounds while senior guard Luke Park chipped in 12 points and dished out eight assists. 

On Dec. 6, the second day of the three-day tournament, the Colts took on an unfamiliar opponent—Rocky Mountain out of Idaho. Cottonwood galloped out to a 39-19 lead at the half and were never threatened in an 83-52 win, as Rosevear buried six threes and had a game-high 22 points. Junior Tengis Bayasgalan scored a season-high 15 points. Cecez poured in 10 points and had seven rebounds. 

On the final day of the tournament Dec. 7, the Colts would again play a team from Idaho—Meridian. Rosevear led the way with 28 points, a season-high for the senior in Cottonwood’s 71-60 win. Bayasgalan again had a big game for the Colts with 12 points, but the player of the game—and the tournament—might have been Park who had 16 assists to go with 10 points. 

In all, the Colts finished the three-day tournament at Corner Canyon High School unbeaten at 3-0, and won every game by 10 points or more. 

It helped Cottonwood’s boys forget about the first three games of the season, in which the Colts narrowly lost their first two games of the preseason by six points apiece—to Lone Peak of Class 6A and to 3A Richfield. The third loss was a 30-point drubbing at the hands of 5A Highland in which Cottonwood shot just 24% from the field and could not get any sort of game going other than what could be provided by Rosevear, who scored 15 points to pace the Colts. 

For Cottonwood though, Region 10 play starts early. By the time this goes to press, the Colts will have played games against Stansbury at home and at Park City Dec. 10 and 13. A home nonregion tilt against Sky View Dec. 16 comes before another Region 10 contest at Jordan. 

A highly touted Murray squad with a new head coach that gave Highland problems earlier in the season comes to Cottonwood’s gymnasium on Dec. 19 in another Region 10 showdown, marking four league games the Colts will be playing before Christmas. 

For Cottonwood, Rosevear is averaging 21 points per game to lead the way in scoring, followed by Park at 13 per contest. Bayasgalan is the team’s leading three-point shooter with 2.33 per game while Bo Smith is tops in rebounds, averaging eight per game. 

Meanwhile, Park’s nine assists per game is the best in 4A and third in the state. At the moment, the 5-foot-10 senior is on pace to have over 200 assists this season and may even threaten the all-time mark of 249 set by Kirath Makhar in 2022-23. Cottonwood will compete in the Utah Autism Holiday Classic Dec. 28-31 against four nonregion opponents.  λ