One year after a run to the state finals, the Cottonwood boys basketball team looked like it might cause trouble for opposing teams at the 4A state tournament. 

But, the Colts started slow against unheralded Uintah at home during their 4A second round game Feb. 15, trailing by two points after one quarter, 17-15. 

Cottonwood managed to tie the game 24-24 by halftime, but the Colts found themselves down five points after three quarters of play, 43-38. Part of that had to do with the Colts’ inability to knock down jumpers—they shot just 37% from the field for the game, and 5% from three. 

For a team that advanced to the 4A championship game last year at UVU and had Layton Christian battling to avoid an upset, this kind of behavior was uncharacteristic—particularly when several key players were returning for their senior seasons, including the second and third leading scorers from last year in John Rosevear and Luke Park. 

Now seniors, the Brighton High transfers Rosevear and Park were expected to carry this Colts team to a Region 10 title and beyond. 

Job done there, but it was never easy for the Colts this season, and the game against Uintah was a microcosm of their struggles in preseason play, when they won one game at the Utah Autism Holiday Classic that was chock full of the same top schools Cottonwood thumped a year earlier. 

That said, the Colts used a 19-6 fourth quarter run to gallop toward a 57-49 win over the Utes and move on to the 4A quarterfinals at SUU’s America First Events Center. Leading the way for the Colts was Luke Park, who buried 16 points, dished 12 assists and had six rebounds to go with five steals in a memorable performance. 

Fellow senior Bo Smith showed off his athleticism, snaring a team-high 11 rebounds against Uintah [with 13 points] and 6-foot-8 sophomore giant Luka Cecez drilled 12 points, had six rebounds and whacked a team-high three blocks away from the rim. Rosevear swished a quiet 11 points for a Colts squad that advanced to play a Dixie team that didn’t have far to travel for the quarters.

Cottonwood [17-9] did all it could to stave off a decided home-court advantage for the Flyers, who had just 40 miles of travel north to Cedar City. The Colts had an extra bus for all interested students for the 3-hour ride south, and dozens took advantage of that offer. 

But that paled in comparison to the traveling party Dixie brought, and so the Flyers got out to a hot start in the first quarter, taking a 15-11 lead. 

The proverbial home team from St. George would increase Cottonwood’s deficit to eight at 32-24 by the time the horn sounded for halftime. 

For a Colts team that only dressed six players, they shot pretty well, all things considered, at 55%, helping narrow the Dixie advantage to just five, at 46-41 after three quarters of play. The problem for Cottonwood was that Dixie took better shots from a closer range, and was 58% from the field—72% inside the three-point arc. 

That spelled the difference for Cottonwood, who watched its season end prematurely 64-57. The Colts were led by Cecez, who poured in 20 points and didn’t miss a shot. He ends the 2024-25 season with a school record 70 blocks. 

For John Rosevear and Luke Park, Brighton transfers that came into the main gym at Cottonwood together two years ago, they’ll leave the court together knowing that they nearly set a few single-season school records. 

Rosevear played his final game at The Wood and scored 17 points for a total of 248 this season, 66 shy of Chris Cox’ single-season mark last year. 

Park had himself another stat-filler in his finale: 11 points, nine assists and three steals. He also seriously threatened Kirath Makhar’s single season school record 249 assists, coming within 19 of it. The duo will also see their names in the top 10 in several other categories, insomuch as single-season school records are concerned. 

Senior Bo Smith was unable to play in the 4A quarterfinal due to injury, but he’ll see his name mentioned in the school’s single-season top 10 record list in two categories: rebounds and blocks. Smith’s 144 total rebounds and 13 blocks puts the athletic senior firmly into those spots. λ