Saturday, February 22, 2025 # 1 Kanab vs. # 2 South Sevier - Championship Game
Fifty years. That’s five decades or 18,270 days since the Kanab High School (KHS) Boys Basketball team were last crowned State Champions. The internet wasn’t a thing yet, a stamp cost $0.10 and Gerald Ford was the president. Fast forward to Saturday, February 22, 2025. The KHS Cowboys have had an undefeated region season under head coach Jerron Glazier, and had earned their spot in the Championship game against the South Sevier Rams. It would be only the sixth time in School history, that the Cowboys played for the gold. There was a great turnout at the Sevier Valley Center from Kanab as many made the trip to support their hometown Cowboys, including several of the members of that first Championship team.
As Kanab faced off against the South Sevier Rams for the third time this season, both teams knew they needed to come prepared for the challenge. “You know it’s going to be a show [when these two teams meet],” said Kanab Junior Kyle Brown. Kanab beat South Sevier twice in region play, the first time in South Sevier by 10, and the second in Kanab by six. Coach Jerron Glazier expressed a lot of respect for the South Sevier team and their coaching staff, “I love what they do, they are a great team to play. Yesterday, when it was either them or North Summit, we wanted South Sevier because that’s what it felt like it was supposed to be. It feels bad for one of us to take a lesser trophy. Hats off to them for what they’ve done.”
The two teams wasted no time showing their defensive prowess as the game got underway. The entire first half was a defensive battle, with both teams playing very patiently on the offensive side, while their defenses fired on all cylinders. At the end of the first quarter the score was a low 5-4 in favor of South Sevier, but the intensity was at an all-time high. In such an intense defensive battle, being so tightly guarded, it was Carson Visser who was able to consistently put the ball in the basket for the Cowboys. Visser managed to net nine of the Cowboys 15 at the half, while the Cowboys held the Rams to 14.
Left to right:
Tournament MVP, Kyle Brown lays in one of his clutch buckets at the start of the fourth quarter of the State Championship game. Photo by Jeremy Houston.
Trey Castagno pulls up for one of his massive threes during the final quarter of the State Championship game. Photo by Matthew A. Smith, heycameraguy.com
James Quinn elevates over # 21 Raidon Barney, in the second quarter of the Championship game against South Sevier. Photo by Jeremy Houston.
Carson Visser makes a move in the post against South Sevier’s Maksian Bastian. Photo by Jeremy Houston.
Defense continued to be the name of the game during the second half. Cache Mortensen lead an impressive effort against the Rams as he held their leading scorer, Stockton Roberts, to only six points on the entire night, with only two coming in the first half. Mortensen also had two steals in the first half alone. “You put Cache on anybody, and it’s their lowest scoring output of the season,” said Coach Jerron Glazier, “Anytime we had a big time player, Cache is the first player to say, I want to guard that guy.”
Buoyed by their defensive efforts, the Cowboy team’s offense found a groove in the third quarter. Kyle Brown took the offensive reins and became the spark plug the Cowboy offense needed. Brown became an absolute force as he continuously found a way to find the hoop. He continued to make highly contested shots inside the paint, first creating space for himself, blitzing to the net, then finishing with that soft touch he is so well known for. Mortensen also found a way to get points on the board for the Cowboys, netting seven points in the third quarter.
As the two teams headed into the fourth quarter, the score was 27-32 in favor of the Cowboys. The Rams refused to go away however, every time the Cowboys would extend their lead a bit, the Rams would battle their way back to within striking range. That’s when Trey Castagno brought the magic.
Left to right, photos by Jeremy Houston:
Cowboys 06: Troy Federkeil gets hammered as he goes for a layup against American Leadership Academy during the Semi-Final game.
Cowboys 07: Trajen Glazier battles for the tip off at the start of the State Championship game against South Sevier.
Cowboys 08: Kale Glover brings the ball down the court during overtime of the semi-final game against ALA.
Cowboys 09: Cache Mortensen drives between South Sevier’s # 23 Peyton Ingram and # 12 Stockton Roberts on his way to the basket.
There’s something to be said for stepping up and making big shots when it matters, and that’s exactly what Castagno did for the Cowboys. Every time the Rams would come within 10 points Castagno would hammer down their efforts with a three. The first came as the Cowboys were up nine points with 6:42 left in the game, the second with the Cowboys up eight and 5:30 left in the game, and the third with the Cowboys up seven with 4:00 left in the game. Just as the Rams got within 10, Castagno dropped them back to double digits, effectively taking the wind out of their sails and helping secure a much-needed cushion. A steal by Senior Troy Federkeil with just 51 seconds left followed by hitting one of two free throws ultimately sealed the victory for the Cowboys, putting them up 49-39. Cache Mortensen was able to strip the ball near the Rams own baseline, giving the Cowboys the ball back. As Mortensen held the ball to run out the remaining few seconds of the clock, the scoreboard showed 49-39 in favor of the Cowboys.
The entire Cowboys team played a huge role in the win with seven players putting points on the board, but games are not won by points alone. As the Rams attacked the inside game, and got Visser in a bit of foul trouble in the third, it was James Quinn who stepped up and took over the big man role. A tough assignment against South Sevier’s leading scorer, Maksian Bastian. Kale Glover’s shots weren’t falling, however, the threat of him on the court forced defenders to take note, coincidentally opening up his teammates and allowing them to get open and make big plays. Trajen Glazier battled for rebounds and played tough defense all weekend long, and Troy Federkeil stepped up huge in the post season and played with extreme toughness against some very talented teams.
It was a fantastic Championship game with 13 lead changes and five ties during the duration of the game, but the Cowboys were able to get it done, for the first time in 50 years. “We executed everything we needed to get done, we came out and played like brothers,” said Cache Mortensen.
“Our defense was lights out tonight,” said Coach Jerron Glazier, “I’m grateful to have kids that motivated me, and then to watch them complete it today, I’m without words, that was really special. I’m so grateful to be a part of what just happened.”
The Cowboys were able to manage 44 percent shooting from the floor, 40 percent from the three, and 50 percent from the free throw line.
Kyle Brown - 14 points, four rebounds, three assists
Cache Mortensen - 11 points, eight rebounds, three steals
Carson Vissor - nine points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks
Trey Castagno – nine points, two rebounds
Troy Federkeil – three points, four rebounds, two steals
James Quinn – two points, two rebounds
Kale Glover – one point, three assists
Trey Castagno was described as the “difference maker” in the game and earned Team HiveLive’s Player of the Game award, with Kyle Brown being rightfully awarded the Deseret News’ MVP award for the Tournament. In the final three games, Brown averaged 16.3 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game and three assists per game.
Thursday- February 20, 2025 # 1 Kanab vs. # 9 APA WV - Quarterfinal
The quarterfinal matchup between the # 1 Kanab Cowboys and the # 9 American Preparatory Academy West Valley Eagles was the third consecutive time the two teams have squared off in the State Tournament. The Cowboys beat the Eagles in the 2023 quarterfinal game 72- 59, then the Eagles found their revenge in 2024 as they beat the Cowboys in the consolation game 74- 53. Both teams were looking to take the matchup back in their favor as they took to the floor on Thursday.
With both Kanab and APA shooting well, the Cowboys found themselves up 32-26 at the half. Both teams struggled to find their groove as they combined for only 2 of 15 from beyond the arc (0-5 for the Eagles) and both finding themselves in double figures in turnovers before the start of the second half. The Cowboys ended up executing a little better in the second half ultimately besting the Eagles 58-44. The Cowboys had 5 players in the books:
Cash Mortensen - 23 points, two rebounds, two assists, three steals. (bringing him to over 1100 career points)
Kyle Brown - 16 points , five rebounds, three assists Trajen Glazier - five points, four rebounds, four assists
Carson Visser - 11 points, five rebounds
James Quinn - three points, two rebounds
As a team, the Cowboys shot 44 percent from the floor, 25 percent from the three and 67 percent from the free throw line and had 25 rebounds. With that the Cowboys moved on to play #4 American Leadership Academy who narrowly escaped North Sevier in their Quarterfinal matchup.
Friday - February 21, 2025 # 1 Kanab vs. # 4 American Leadership Academy - Semifinal
In what proved to be a very interesting game with a slow start, the ALA Eagles gave the Kanab Cowboys their first bout of overtime of the season. The two teams flip flopped quarters the entire game, with Kanab out scoring ALA in the 11-9 in the first then ALA taking the second 11- 9, tying up the scoreboard as both teams headed to the locker room at half time. The Cowboys, notorious for having the third quarter be their best, kept with that tradition and outscored the Eagles 20-13, but the ALA Eagles wouldn’t back down in the fourth quarter and outscored our Cowboys 15-8 to tie the game and send things into overtime.
The momentum and energy of both teams finally peaked in the overtime battle as ALA’s Malakai Mack hit a three then Kanab’s Cash Mortensen answered with one of his own. Kanab was ultimately able to pull off a narrow victory, winning 58-53. Leading contributors for the Cowboys were:
Cache Mortensen - nine points, six rebounds, five assists
Kale Glover - nine points, two assists
Kyle Brown - 19 points, four rebounds, three assists
Carson Visser - 10 points, five rebounds, two blocks
Troy Federkeil - seven points, four rebounds
Trajen Glazier - two points
Trey Castagno - five rebounds
James Quinn - two points, three assists, four rebounds
The Cowboys shot 43 percent from the floor, 28 percent from the three, 78 percent from the free throw line.
After three days of playing their hearts out and winning the Championship, the Cowboys were welcomed home around 1 a.m. on Sunday, February 23, in true Kanab tradition with a caravan of police, riding atop a firetruck as they delivered the trophy to Kanab High School. Congrats again to the Kanab Cowboys for a record year, undefeated in region play, an overtime battle to make it to the Ship, then ultimately bringing home the title. It truly is great to be a Cowboy.
