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Ogden senior Conrad Moore (1) pushes the ball past Morgan senior Ben Russell (34) during a game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Morgan.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Morgan senior Nate Pace, right, evades Ogden senior Conrad Moore (1) for a layup on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Morgan.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ogden junior Peter Archibald shoots a free throw during a game at Morgan on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Morgan.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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Ogden senior Brayden Wilson, center, stares down Morgan junior Jake Hansen, right during a game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Morgan.

CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner

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MORGAN — Morgan has certainly put its stamp on Weber County, basketball-wise.

Claiming a 34-point win at Ben Lomond on Wednesday, Morgan boys basketball capped its rivalry series with Ogden victoriously, 69-44, in the programs’ second regular-season meeting. Morgan’s girls squad beat Ogden by 23 just one night earlier.

Just as the Trojans (18-1, 6-0 Region 13) anticipate a strong regular-season finish and more on the horizon come postseason time, the Tigers (9-10, 1-5) are eager to prove they have something to play for with four more opportunities ahead.

Friday night, 6-foot-4 Morgan shooting guard Bracken Saunders scored a floor-high 20 points, making it a steep ascent for the Tigers through all fourth quarters. Saunders pointed to Ogden junior Jackson Maw, leading Ogden with a competing 19 points, as the Trojans’ tallest threat.

“I don’t think we’re at our highest level yet,” Saunders said. “Every game we’re working on something new and trying to get better throughout it. (Maw)’s a stud, he finishes around the rim really well, so our gameplan was to let him get a couple and then shut him down.”

Three more Trojans — junior Jake Hansen (13 points), senior Kolton Asay (12 points) and senior Nate Pace (10 points) — bogged down Ogden’s defense by halftime.

Aside from senior Brayden Wilson, logging all 12 of his points from 3-point land during the fourth quarter, Ogden found little support from the field. Sophomore Ryan Kirkland finished with five points, junior Tayson Porter added four, and senior Conrad Moore and junior Briggs Galbraith each chipped in three.

Ogden left Morgan County the winning squad a year ago but Tigers head coach Trent Porter said his squad’s maturity isn’t up to par with such a storyline this time.

“(Morgan)’s going to make a deep run in the playoffs,” Porter said. “It’s us against us. We preach to the kids to play Ogden basketball so these next couple of games are against us. Are we going to build off what we’ve done or are we going to regress a little bit? We’re going to take the things we did well and build off those, and identify the things we’re still lacking.”

The Trojans jumped out front scoring six unanswered with Ogden, burning their first timeout less than 60 seconds in, playing catchup from the jump. Senior Ben Russell, Hansen and Pace each found early success from the field before the Tigers gradually cooked up some answers.

Junior Peter Archibald, Porter and Maw all took advantage as the whistle slowed down Morgan midway through the first. Those free points and six more from the field kept Ogden within 11 to begin the second quarter.

Maw, netting 15 points before halftime, led the Tigers to within six — forcing a Morgan timeout with 4:22 left in the half — with help from a Galbraith 3 and Kirkland free throws.

After two-plus minutes of silence, Saunders ended the Trojans’ drought at the free-throw line. Ogden scrounged up multiple takeaways and rebounds over the final moments of the first half but a Porter basket at the bell was hardly an answer with Morgan up nine at the break.

Morgan returned from halftime with a near-seamless 12-0 run and Ogden managed just six third-quarter points, all from the free-throw line. Asay and Saunders led the Trojans to a comfortable 23-point lead entering the fourth quarter.

Reflecting on the painful stretch, Porter said anyone could tell his group wasn’t ready for the third quarter.

“You can tell when we come out of the locker room and (Morgan) goes on that spurt that we’re just not ready for this type of basketball,” Porter said. “We had moments where we did some good things and showed some maturity but tonight we weren’t on the level they are.”

Wilson’s four 3s off the bench came as a breath of fresh air for Ogden in the fourth quarter. Moore added another 3-pointer and Maw managed a layup before the night was over, but Morgan raced into the weekend with their sixth region win.

Looking ahead, Saunders said the public hasn’t seen Morgan’s defensive ceiling, yet.

“We’ve still got a lot to work on,” Saunders said. “Our defense could use some work. Once we start playing (defense) on all cylinders, we’re going to be hard to stop.”

Ogden travels to South Summit (7 p.m.) on Wednesday; Morgan heads to Grantsville (7 p.m.).

BOX SCORE

Ogden 11 13 6 14 – 44

Morgan 23 10 20 16 – 69

OHS (44): Maw 19, Wilson 12, Kirkland 5, Porter 4, Galbraith 3, Moore 3, Archibald 1.

MHS (69): Saunders 20, Hansen 13, Asay 12, Pace 10, Williams 5, Russell 4, Whimpey 3, Peterson 2,

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