5A boys quarterfinal: Zwick, Mulibea, Moore make clutch plays to lead East over Skyridge

OGDEN — The biggest shot of the day in East's 60-53 quarterfinal win over Skyridge was one that Taylor Zwick wasn't supposed to take.

As Zwick caught the ball in the corner with 38 seconds left in the game and the Leopards leading by one point, East head coach Mitch Smith told Zwick not to shoot it.

Smith soon rescinded that opinion, as Zwick nailed the corner 3-pointer to put the Leopards up four and blew a kiss to his coach. After Skyridge called timeout, Smith embraced the senior captain.

"I told Taylor Zwick in the corner, don't shoot that ball. He makes it and blows me a kiss. That's onions, that's kids wanting to win the freaking game," Smith said. "He struggled last game and today he just wanted to win. He forgot himself and just played to win, even though his coach said, 'Don't shoot a deep 3.' That is a man's play."

“I told Taylor Zwick in the corner, don't shoot that ball. He makes it and blows me a kiss. ... That's kids wanting to win the freaking game.”

East coach Mitch Smith

Zwick knew that ball was going in as soon as it left his hand.

"I've done that shot so many times, if I'm open, I'm going to shoot it no matter what happens, so I shot it," Zwick said. "With a game like that, you don't miss that shot."

Zwick's shot was one of three key plays down the stretch that sent East to the quarterfinals.

After Braden Housley knocked down a free throw to cut the Leopard lead to three with 30 seconds left, East's Zach Moore was fouled and calmly sunk two free throws.

"My guys have some onions. They had some guts. Stepped up and knocked down free throws," Smith said.

East finished the game a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

"We come in every day, shoot free throws, we practice those free throws every day so when the game was on the line we just came down and knocked them down," forward Andre Mulibea said.

After a shot from Duncan Reid to keep the Falcons in it and keep them within striking distance, just three points down with 11 seconds left, East put the nail in the coffin.

With the press on, Mulibea put on his best wide receiver impression, catching a long pass and laying it up with 8 seconds remaining, giving East a 58-53 lead and the win. Smith, who played college basketball at Utah, compared Mulibea to his Ute teammate Manny Hendrix, who played in the NFL after not playing any college football.

"We were trying to get a finish and just extend the lead," Mulibea said.

"What about the play Dre made? Like a wide receiver, goes up big, he's being held, and knocks it down," Smith added.

With those hands, Mulibea might want to try out for East's football team.

"They actually asked me to play this year, but I've got to stick to my one sport. I might try next year though, but it depends," Mulibea said.

East's win over Skyridge set off a raucous celebration in the locker room.

"Sometimes when you coach, it's relief, but this felt good. I'll be up until 5 in the morning tomorrow, watching film, overpreparing. My coaches are awesome, and they'll say, 'That's enough, don't overprepare them,'" Smith said.

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