1 / 13

West Field senior Jaxon Slaugh (4) fights his way past Roy senior Colby Frokjer (1) during a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

2 / 13

West Field senior Isabelle Tracy (14) defends a shot by Roy sophomore Rihanna May (30) during a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

3 / 13

West Field junior Jordan Harrison (23) defends Roy senior Colby Frokjer (1) during a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

4 / 13

Roy junior Boston Greenhalgh (24) races past West Field senior Cole McCormick (5) during a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

5 / 13

Roy senior Colby Frokjer (1) defends a layup by West Field junior Jordan Harrison (23) during a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

6 / 13

West Field senior Cole McCormick (5) defends a shot by Roy senior Colby Frokjer (1) during a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

7 / 13

West Field head boys basketball coach Mike Russell instructs his team during a timeout vs. Roy during a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

8 / 13

The Roy boys basketball team huddles together during a game vs. West Field on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

9 / 13

West Field junior Jordan Harrison runs onto the court during the starting lineups before a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

10 / 13

The West Field student section gets ready for tipoff for a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

11 / 13

West Field senior Isabelle Tracy (14) and Roy senior Jerzee Hart (21) jump for the ball during a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

12 / 13

Roy senior Jerzee Hart (21) defends West Field junior Kennedee Solomon (10) during a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

13 / 13

West Field senior Isabelle Tracy (14) defends Roy senior Jerzee Hart (21) during a game on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Taylor.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

❮ ❯

TAYLOR — There’s a first time for everything.

After an unfavorable start on the road, West Field boys basketball experienced many firsts with a 52-42 win over 5A visitor Roy High on Tuesday night. It marked the school’s first-ever hoops victory and the first for veteran Mike Russell’s WF career as head coach.

The 4A Longhorns (1-1) were led by senior Jaxon Slaugh’s game-high 19 points and 20 combined points between junior Jordan Harrison (12) and freshman Drew Faddis (eight).

Senior Devin Nelson led Roy (0-2) with 10 points; senior Colby Frokjer added nine points to the sheet.

West Field, aside from a sizeable home-crowd advantage on the special night, tightened up on everything from rebounding to the free-throw line. The Longhorns outrebounded their opponent 21-15 and finished 10% better than the Royals at the charity stripe.

“We looked in on ourselves,” Slaugh said. “We looked at the small things, our details and just kept understanding the little things go a long way.”

The Longhorns are no stranger to size and length following last week’s loss at Morgan, and the first quarter reflected a team ready to roll with the punches.

After two early turnovers, West Field got a spark out of junior Cason Malan (six points) winning a battle inside to keep the Royals within a possession at the end of the first quarter.

Malan kept his step, opening the second quarter 2 of 2 from the field and inspiring a 10-2 run featuring contributions by Faddis and junior Daxton Laughter (seven points) for a 29-20 lead at halftime.

Winning boards and executing the offense were among the top things to satisfy Russell in his group’s second appearance, the game coming against a Royals team similarly craving a non-region momentum booster.

“Having one game under our belt, our guys are looser,” Russell said. “We should’ve strung more stops together, I would’ve liked that. But for how big and long they were, I thought our guys did well.”

Laughter returned from the break with a seemingly a big 3-point basket, but it’d soon be Roy heating up behind the arc. Nelson drilled two 3s and junior Boston Greenhalgh added another before the third quarter wrapped with West Field maintaining a seven-point cushion thanks to Slaugh.

Junior Jake Hamblin (four points) knocked down a sharp two as Roy flirted with a fourth-quarter comeback for roughly four minutes. Senior Tyrece Holbrook (five points) tacked on another 3 and senior Ben Stirland penciled in his single point at the stripe to make it a one-possession ballgame for the Royals.

Roy’s late run evaporated as quickly as it arrived, with Harrison scoring a 4-0 run for the Longhorns with 1:38 remaining. Slaugh managed a pivotal and-one pushing West Field up by eight and Harrison drilled his lone 3-bomb of the night for an 11-point lead with 33 seconds left.

After embracing the countdown to his team’s first win, Slaugh said Tuesday’s showing proves his teammates can produce at a high level when they follow the script.

“We just keep trusting him,” Slaugh said about his coach. “We understand that if we do what he says and just keep working together, then we’ll have a great year.”

West Field next plays on a trip to Farmington (Dec. 3) following the holiday break. Roy, searching for its first win of the season, returns to action at Weber (Dec. 4).

BOX SCORE

Roy High 12 8 12 10 – 42

West Field 11 18 10 13 – 52

RHS (42): Nelson 10, Frokjer 9, Greenhalgh 6, Randall 5, Holbrook 5, Hamblin 4, Goodwin 2, Stirland 1.

WF (52): Slaugh 19, Harrison 12, Faddis 8, Laughter 7, Malan 6.

Roy girls hold the line, stave off West Field

West Field christened the historic debut of its new gymnasium with a girls basketball contest against Roy on Tuesday evening, but the floors’ first-ever hoops result didn’t favor the Longhorns.

Both squads managed just 11 points in the final eight minutes and the Royals took advantage of some late free-throws for a 41-35 road win.

Despite the loss, West Field (0-1, 0-0) produced the game’s top scorer in senior Canyon Britt (12 points) and welcomed sophomore Meghan Peterson (six points) off the bench for a second-half push.

Sophomore Rihanna May (11 points) and senior Jerzee Hart (10 points) helped the Royals pull off the 2-0 start before the holiday break, but head coach Hailee Parry’s group struggled shaking off the Horns through three quarters.

Early looks at the basket by Britt and junior Kennedee Solomon bought West Field a hot 8-2 start, but it soon became clear Roy’s size would become a problem beneath the basket. By the end of the first quarter, the Longhorns were 1 of 4 from the stripe and trailed 13-11 with the Royals heating up in transition.

West Field struggled to find the hole three minutes into the second quarter, with Britt breaking the silence at the free-throw line with her team now down nine with four minutes left in the half.

With turnovers piling up, the Longhorns became more board-conscious, fighting the Royals for every extra chance on the floor. An outsized Buckway Tailey slipped her way through traffic consisting of Roy seniors Arianna Strain and Jerzee Hart to collect and cash in a rebound for a layup. That gave West Field a two-possession game with three minutes still to go in the half.

A 3-pointer from West Field junior Rylee Andreasen was enough to force a Roy timeout. Allotted 1.4 seconds to tie it before the break, Doxey scattered the baseline until finding a window for the right corner and burying a long ball, evening the score at 22 all.

Roy kept a possession between itself and the Longhorns for much of the third quarter, earning two trips to the free-throw line and leaning on a 3-point ball by junior Jazzi Prieto heading into the final eight-minute jaunt.

Three minutes passed in the fourth quarter before West Field sophomore Meghan Peterson came off the bench to break the silence with a short-range two-pointer, bringing the Royals’ lead down to a single basket.

Late fouls doomed the Longhorns, even with the Royals finishing the fourth quarter 3 of 6 from the free-throw line.

Roy returns from the holiday break for a trip to Syracuse (Dec. 3) and West Field will look for its first win in program history at Bonneville (Dec. 3).

BOX SCORE

Roy High 13 9 12 7 — 41

West Field 11 11 9 4 — 35

RHS (41): May 11, Hart 10, Strain 5, Fisher 5, Prieto 4, Speredon 4, Hunt 2.

WF (35): Britt 12, Peterson 6, Andreasen 5, Dozey 3, Buckway 3, Solomon 3.

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.