With nine seconds left in the game and down by two, Tooele had a chance to win with a three-pointer or send the game into overtime with a two-point basket. But Grantsville clamped down on defense and two last-chance shots by the Buffs were off the mark.

Grantsville won its second game in the Tooele gym in two years edging the Buffs 54-52 on Wednesday.

"It wasn't over until the final buzzer. I told our kids before that last possession that we had to put a lot of pressure on (Tanner) Stuart and extend the defense," said Grantsville coach Larry Sandberg.

The Cowboys did just that and Stuart, who already had connected on three three-pointers, did not get a good look at the basket. His final shot of the night veered off just before the buzzer sounded.

For the first time this year Grantsville used full-court pressure on defense which seemed to disrupt Tooele's offense. The Cowboys created several Tooele turnovers in the first quarter to forge a 9-6 lead.

Grantsville increased the margin to 26-19 at intermission when sophomore Reggie Roberts buried a three-pointer from the corner with three seconds left in the first half.

The Cowboys extended their lead to 11 early in the third quarter by breaking down the Buffs' defense and scoring three quick inside baskets. With good feeds from their teammates, Kaleb Rupp hit two inside shots and Joey Logan added another and Grantsville went up 32-21.

Tooele erased that lead with an 11-point rally in two minutes that started with two inside baskets from Jordan Clemente and seven-straight points from Stuart to knot the game at 32.

After trailing most of the game, Tooele grabbed a brief lead at 38-37 with two foul shots from Boone Baird, but an inside basket from Cody Colson gave Grantsville a 39-38 advantage after three quarters.

With Grantsville up 47-43 in the third, Tooele hit back-to-back three-pointers. Chase Banks hit one followed by a trey from Baird to make it 49-48 Tooele.

Once again Grantsville was able to quickly beat the Tooele press and get the ball inside. Point guard Logan Paulich dished off to Rupp and Grantsville led 50-49 with 2:32 left in the game. Roberts extended the lead to 52-49 with two fouls shots with 1:54 left, then Clemente scored again to make it 52-51.

With 1:05 remaining and Tooele trailing 53-51, the Buffs could not connect on a pair of shots from close range with one shot popping in-and-out of the basket. Logan pushed the Grantsville lead to 54-52 by sinking a foul shot with 19.5 seconds left in the contest.

With 12.9 seconds left, Tooele managed to get a jump ball, but the possession went to Grantsville. The next three seconds turned into a mad scramble on Grantsville's side of the court with Tooele trying to steal and/or foul. The Cowboys tried to call time-out to maintain possession, but the referees called another jump ball and this time the possession belonged to Tooele. The Buffs then called time-out with 9.1 seconds remaining.

Then came the frantic final nine seconds, the tight Grantsville defense, and the last gasp shots from Tooele.

"The press didn't surprise us, but we really didn't handle the ball well. We've never committed this many turnovers in a game this year and we didn't shoot well either," said Tooele coach Ray Brazier. "Grantsville played well. They executed their game plan. We didn't handle their pressure.

"We have a lot of respect for Grantsville and we prepared for this game like any other game. We don't look at records. We knew this wasn't going to be an easy game. We need to improve our ability to handle the ball if we're going to push the ball," the coach said.

Brazier said his team needs to learn how to transition into its offense once it has beaten the press.

Grantsville point guard Logan Paulich followed a good game against Delta with another strong outing against Tooele scoring 14 points on four field goals and six-of-nine from the line.

"We really haven't played four full quarters this year," Paulich said. "We were up at half and coach just challenged us to put together a full game and the headline in the paper would read 'Grantsville edges Tooele in tight contest'. I've been in these games before. I knew it would be tough. It's just a game, but you might as well give it your full effort. Coach wanted us to beat their press as fast as possible and get the ball inside," the senior added.

Grantsville was able to do that continually in the second half. Brazier said his players sometimes lost their man in the full court transition.

"We haven't pressured full-court this season. We practice it and it's part of our arsenal but we just haven't used it," Sandberg said. "I thought it kept them out of their rythym. Tooele is a good team with good players and they have been playing well. I think both teams were a little rusty after coming off the break," the coach said.

High school teams were not allowed to practice Dec. 21-26 and Dec.29- Jan. 1.

Both teams had 10 players each coming in and out of the game.

"We need to use 10 to keep players fresh with the uptempo style of play. We've had spurts in games where we played well, but I think this was our best game from tip to finish," Sandberg said. "We've played well in Tooele the last three years even when they had that great state championship team."

Stuart led all scorers with 17, Clemente 9, Baird 8, Wihongi 6, Banks 3, Biorge 3, Anderson 3 and Gutowsky 1. Tooele scored five three-pointers (Stuart 3, Baird, Banks).

Grantsville had a balanced attack with Paulich 14, Rupp 11, Childs 11, Logan 7, Roberts 5, Lujan 2, Colson 2, Davis 2. Childs and Roberts hit three-pointers.

"That's the way it will have to be. We don't have one go-to guy. We will need a full team-effort to compete in our region," Sandberg said.

Both teams start league play this week. Grantsville hosts Logan on Friday and Tooele travels to Orem.

Tooele edged Ogden last Friday at Ogden 54-52 by hitting seven three-pointers. Brazier said Ogden and Grantsville are very similar. "Grantsville has a few more shooters than Ogden," he saiid.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com