Logan (Utah) Herald-Journal

PRESTON - When your district includes only three teams with just one automatic playoff spot up for grabs between them, every district game counts.

The Century Diamondbacks impoved their winning streak to six games - and their standing in the small district - with a down-to-the-wire 61-58 victory over the host Preston Indians on Thursday night. It was a game of large momentum swings but few lead changes.

After fighting back to tie the game at 33-33 on a Koltyn Hobbs three-point play right before the half, Preston (5-7, 1-1 Fifth District) held onto a steady lead until Century sophomore Nathan Wall pulled the Diamondbacks ahead 51-50 with under five minutes to go in the game.

"It was a good win here on the road at Preston," Century coach Cody Shelley said.

In the fourth quarter when Century's Caz Alley leaped out of bounds in pursuit of a loose ball, saving it with a no-look, over-the-head pass. It hit Wall right on the numbers under the basket, where Wall didn't miss the shot.

Wall was one of two Diamondbacks to score 20, sharing the game-high with senior guard Storm Shelley. Among Wall's stats on the night, perhaps the biggest was his three steals, one of which basically won the game for Century (9-3, 1-0) in the waning seconds.

Wall shot 7-for-10 from the field, also getting six points at the free-throw line on 6-of-8 shooting. Storm Shelley was 7-of-14, including hitting 2-of-6 from downtown.

Hobbs, who seemed to be his team's emotional leader on the night, led the way with a double-double, including 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting and a team-leading 11 rebounds.

"There was a lot of emotion in this game," Hobbs said. "It's a district game, obviously, and we're gonna be bringing our A-game.

"I was really pumped for this game, and everybody else was, too. … We all gave it everything we've got. We left it all out there, you can't question that."