Bees avoid season sweep by Sky View

BRIGHAM CITY -- His mother was not at senior night, but Stacey Eyre would have been pleased.

Eyre's son, Cody, one of six Bees' seniors playing his last regular-season home game Wednesday, joined three of his teammates in double figures and Box Elder averted a season sweep by the Region 5 runner-up Bobcats with a 54-47 victory.

The 17-year-old Cody was clearly emotional during the pregame ceremonies, dabbing at his eyes with his warm-up top.

"I lost my mom two years ago; it was tough for me tonight," Cody said. "I was thinking about her tonight. I hope she would be proud of me."

Cody scored a team-high 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting with four assists and three steals for the Bees, who dropped in 15-of-17 fourth-quarter free throws.

"This is the best we've played overall this season, both defensively and offensively," Cody said.

Box Elder, 6-3 in its last nine games, hosts East High on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a state 4-A crossover game. The Bees' last 4-A tournament appearance came back in the 2006-07 season.

"It's the first time for me in the playoffs; it's definitely exciting," Cody said. "It was a big incentive to win this game and get a home game (Saturday)."

Chad Talbot tossed in 13 points -- he was 8-of-8 at the free-throw line -- with eight rebounds and three steals for Box Elder, which shot only 34.1 percent (14-of-41) and was 26.7 percent (4-of-15) on 3-point attempts.

Brant Mecham had 13 points, hitting 9-of-10 foul shots, with four assists and three steals and Justus Brown finished with 11 points and eight boards for the Bees, who outrebounded Sky View 29-23.

The Bobcats had 15 turnovers. Kyler Carlsen, the No. 7 scorer in the state 4-A ranks at 16.25 ppg, was held to nine points.

"The crowd was a big lift. The student section was insane; I've never seen anything like it," Eyre said.