By Travis Barton | [email protected]

Making history is becoming a regular occurrence for the Cyprus boys basketball team. 

Last season saw the Pirates beat West Jordan for the first time this century on a buzzer beating three-pointer from Quentin Meza.

It continued Wednesday night as Cyprus defeated Kearns 62-53 to clinch its first-ever region championship for the boys basketball team. 

“I don’t know how to describe it,” Meza said of his feelings after the game. “Just all the work we’ve all put in since we were young. We’ve been playing together since we were in the fourth grade and that’s what we wanted to do since we were little, wanted to win a region championship.” 

It didn’t come easy for the Pirates. 

After taking an early 6-0 lead on the road at Kearns raucous home court, the Cougars responded hitting five threes to take a 21-20 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

“We weren’t communicating,” said Cyprus head coach Tre Smith of their first-quarter defense. “We let three of their top shooters get wide open looks and you give those type of guys those open looks, it gets them going. We did a better job of smothering them second through the fourth quarters.” 

After the 21-point barrage, Cyprus held the Cougars to just 16 points through the next two quarters. In fact at one point with three minutes left in the game, the Pirates kept the Cougars to just 18 points since the first quarter, allowing the Pirates to build a lead that stretched to 15. 

With a 54-39 lead, and Kearns shooting going cold, the win looked inevitable. But Kearns full-court press helped them nail two three-pointers in quick succession as part of an 11-0 run to trim the deficit to four with a minute to go. 

But clutch free throw shooting from Meza, Justus Jackson-Fobbs and MJ Tia clinched it.

“They sealed the deal and did a good job man and you gotta have fun,” Smith said. “We had fun, got a little rough at the end but we had fun.” 

The win was punctuated by a full-court inbounds pass launched from Spies Tia to Meza for a three-point play. 

“That was pretty fun,” Mesa said of the football-style pass. “We’ve ran that play since we were little. Spies just always throws it up, even if it’s gonna be a turnover. I just try to go up and get it.”

Meza finished the night shooting 63% (including 75% from beyond the arc) with a game-high 27 points and six assists. 

“Meza made big plays, that’s what he does,” Smith said. “And this is what we need from him down the stretch. He’s starting to shoot the three with some confidence now and really get going.” 

Meza always seemed to have the answer when the Pirates needed it whether it was through his decision making or calm demeanor. 

“He feels his way into a game pretty well, he also does a really good job of getting his guys involved,” Smith said of the junior playmaker. 

The team-first mentality allows Meza to shape what he needs to do. 

 “I don’t let them dictate what I’m going to do,” he said. “I’m going to get to my spots and if I think I have the best shot then I’m going to take it. But if not, I’m gonna get my teammates involved because you can’t win it with just one guy. All five have to be involved and if we do that, then we can win a lot of games.” 

And all five came to play for Cyprus. While Meza’s scoring and the defensive game plan was important, other Pirates stepped up too whether it was Diego Mulford’s timely three-pointers or the inside presence with Jackson-Fobbs and MJ Tia finishing with 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively. 

“We rebounded really well, those guys really helped us get over the top,” Smith said. 

“We just stayed together,” Meza added as another key to the victory. “We shared the ball and nobody was selfish and that's what it takes to win games, and that's what we've been doing.” 

Though the season saw them start 1-4, the Pirates have gone 16-1 since (its lone loss to top-ranked Bingham in early January) including a perfect 11-0 in region so far with one game to go. 

A year ago, Meza spoke of his desire to change the culture and expectations around Cyprus basketball and Wednesday’s region championship victory was part of that evolution he said, as scouts from Herriman and Skyridge were among the spectators on the night. 

“Tonight was a big step, we did something that’s never been done,” he said after the game. “I feel like that’s a big thing for our community, big thing in changing the culture so I just think Cyprus is a school you gotta watch out for from now on.” 

For Smith, the Region 2 title is all the sweeter considering the road getting there. The program had a four-season stretch (2014-17) where it won a total of nine games. A decade ago saw the team go 0-21. Smith’s first two seasons starting in 2015-16 had his team go 6-39. But they’ve recorded double digit wins every year since then, culminating in the region championship. 

“I've been coaching here for 10 years man, it's been hard,” a slightly emotional Smith said after the game. “It's a good group of kids, they worked their butts off to put us in this position. We can be successful at Cyprus, we just gotta have the right people and kids that care.”