Jared Lloyd/Provo Daily Herald

PLEASANT GROVE - For the last few years, the Lone Peak-Pleasant Grove boys basketball games have pitted two of the best players in the state against each other in Knight guard Tyler Haws and Viking forward C.J. Wilcox.

Since those two generally cancel each other out, victory is often determined by who else steps up and makes things happen.

In Friday night’s Region 4 contest in Pleasant Grove between the two talented squads, Lone Peak got what it needed from senior center Nate Austin inside and senior guard Dillon Smith outside to surge in front in the second half and earn the 64-56 win.

After the Vikings led by as many as nine points in the first half, the Knights got a tremendous performance inside by Austin as he dominated the boards and affected a number of Pleasant Grove shots.

“I knew my team needed me,” Austin said. “I had to step up. Pleasant Grove is a good team and they were battling. It was a war out there. It was do or die time.”

The 6-foot-10 center finished the game with 12 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks, the majority of which came in the second half.

“From about the middle of the third quarter, Nate Austin dominated the game,” said Lone Peak head coach Qunicy Lewis. “He did a really nice job inside.”

That presence forced the Vikings to pay more attention to what was going on inside and set the stage for Smith to do one of the things he does best: Come up big against Pleasant Grove.

In the first meeting of the year, the senior scored five big points late to help the Knights to victory. Friday night he again stepped into the spotlight, draining three straight 3-pointers to push a three-point lead out to 12 with two minutes left in the game.

“I was able to come out and the team got me the ball,” Smith said. “I was getting open looks and I was fortunate enough to knock them down.”

Viking head coach Randy McAllister felt both teams played fairly evenly except for that stretch.

“Both side played well enough to win for about 29 or 30 minutes,” he said. “Smith is a great player and that’s two games in a row that he’s gotten us. We broke down defensively and it cost us.”

C.J. Wilcox (29 points) and Haws (20 points) both carried the bulk of the scoring load, as expected.

The home team had the lead for most of the game but Lone Peak surged in front in the final period and after Smith’s barrage, never allowed the Vikings back into the game.

Both sides enjoyed rabid fan support, creating a spectacular atmosphere for a high school basketball game.

“It’s a crazy environment,” Smith said. “I love coming here to play.”

Lone Peak (16-2, 7-0) has three more games left to finish off another unbeaten season in league play, starting when they host a dangerous Lehi team on Wednesday. Pleasant Grove (12-6, 5-2) will look to get back on track when it hosts American Fork the same evening.

 SCORING SUMMARY Lone Peak – Tebbs 7, Reeves 8, Pedersen 8, Haws 20, Smith 9, Austin 12. Totals — 19 18/26 64. 3-pointers – Smith 3, Tebbs, Haws, Reeves, Pedersen 2.

 Pleasant Grove – Sampson 7, L. Wilcox 3, Lloyd 2, C.J. Wilcox 29, Frahm 4, Tanoai 11. Totals — 20 12/16 56. 3-pointers – C. J. Wilcox 2, L. Wilcox