In contrast to Tooele’s game against Timpview on Tuesday, the Buffaloes were hitting on all cylinders in the early going against Springville on Friday.

Tooele jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 3:31 left in the first quarter, but Springville rallied to tie the game at 12-12 after one quarter and then turned it on in the second quarter to grab a commanding 35-21 lead at intermission. The Red Devils held on to that lead in the second half to win the game 72-57.

Tooele is now 2-7 in Region 7 with a home game tonight against top-ranked Provo, then a road game at Mountain View on Friday and a game at Payson next Tuesday to conclude the regular season.

Tooele looked sharp with a pair of steals in the opening minutes of the game at Springville. Taylor Hunt ruled the boards and picked off a pass to get things going while Jordan Clemente scored four points and Jake Dalton scored after making a steal. The Buffs held their biggest lead of the game at 9-4 when Hunt drilled his first of three 3-pointers on the night to make it 9-4 Tooele.

The Buffs led 12-8 with 1:24 remaining in the first quarter, but Springville’s Matt Sumison scored an inside basket and Alex Mortensen nailed a jumper to tie the game at 12-12.

Mortensen heated up in the second quarter and gave the Red Devils their first lead of the game connecting on a 3-point shot to make it 15-13 Springville two minutes into the second quarter. Tooele’s Vaughn Turner scored a bucket to slice the lead to 18-15 three minutes into the second quarter and that was as close as the Buffs would get the rest of the game.

Mortensen ended up hitting three 3-pointers and scoring nine of his game-high 26 points in the second quarter to help his team to a 35-21 lead at the break. The Springville sharp-shooter added another 3-pointer in the second half for four 3-point connections in the game.

Tooele was able to slice six points off the lead in the early stages of the third quarter with baskets from Matt Trussell, Tanner Stuart, Jake Dalton and Clemente to make it 40-31. Springville responded with a run of their own scoring seven straight points to go up by 16 points. Sumison extended the lead to 19 points at 55-36 until Hunt was able to stop the bleeding for Tooele with a 3-point basket at the end of the third quarter.

Springville held its biggest lead of the game at 63-39 with 4:47 remaining in the contest and Tooele kept battling to outscore the Red Devils 18-9 in the final five minutes to make the score look a bit more respectable. Tooele fans cheered loudly when sophomore Jarom Stuart entered the game and drained a 3-point shot from the right corner to close out the game.

Tanner Stuart led Tooele in points with 13 followed by Dalton and Hunt with nine points each. Clemente and Boone Baird each scored seven, Brock Haskell four, Trussell and Jarom Stuart three each and Turner two.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com