Wednesday night’s boy’s basketball game between Chaparral High School and North Canyon was certainly a tale of two halves. The Chaparral Firebirds defeated the Rattlers 74-42 on the road.

The first two quarters featured multiple big momentum swings, with the Rattlers taking an early 10-point lead behind senior guard Nathan Gorsuch’s three quick three-pointers. One of which was a deep three as the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter.

The Firebirds soon answered back with a 16-0 run to end the half with a 36-30 lead.

Coach Dan Peterson credited his bench players with jumpstarting the favored Chaparral basketball team when they were down early. He also made it clear that his message for the team didn’t have to wait until it got to the locker room.

“I told the guys we needed to change the complexion of the game and start getting stops," Peterson said. "A couple of guys came off the bench and got us rolling. The message came early.”

Once Chaparral took the lead, it never looked back.

The Firebirds finished the game outscoring the Rattlers by 24 points in the second half. The scoring barrage and swarming defense of Chaparral was the reason behind the team’s 38-3 run in the second and third quarters.

Among those leading the charge for Chaparral was junior guard Josef Davis, who posted a game-high 16 points to go along with a nice helping of assists.

Davis was the igniter coming off the bench, as he frequently drove into the lane looking for a layup or dishing it out to an open teammate.

“I’m glad I was able to get my teammates some points, and still be able to finish at the rim,” Davis said.

Colton Kresl and Kai Fletcher provided a lot of early scoring for Chaparral with 14 and 13 points respectively. Also getting into the mix with double-digit points was senior Corey Jones, who notched 11.

North Canyon Rattlers guard Christion Williams led the team in scoring with 14 points. Gorsuch, the sharpshooting point guard, finished with 11.

Wlliam Lynch-Howell provided eight points from the field coming off the bench. On the defensive end, the Firebirds seemed to struggle applying pressure early, but soon found their groove thanks in part to several blocks from Fletcher and a handful of steals by Blaise Threatt.

Peterson knew his team was slacking early on defense.

“We had no energy, we weren’t pressuring on defense, and we weren’t attacking on offense. I knew we needed to ratchet up the intensity,” he said. 

The conclusion of Wednesday night’s game marked the end of the season series between the two teams. Chaparral took both match-ups during the season.

With the win, Chaparral improved its record to 18-5. Its next matchup will come on Feb. 1 against Willow Canyon at home.

As for North Canyon, it is now 5-14 and will host Arcadia on Friday.