In a tight game full of twists and turns, Park City senior Matthew Hale gave the Miners one final jolt against Morgan on Dec. 6.
The Trojans sank a three-pointer with about 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give them a two-point lead. Park City senior Khai Lockwood received the inbound pass on the right side and raced up the court as the clock ticked down.
Lockwood saw plenty of Morgan defenders on the right side and cut to his left. With the Morgan defense keeping its eyes on Lockwood, he spotted Hale open to his left, just above the three-point line. Hale gathered the ball in his hands and let it fly.
It was a perfect swish, nothing but net, as the shot clock above the backboard hit double zeroes and the ball hit the floor. Bedlam erupted in Morgan, or at least as much as it could in the opponent’s gym 45 minutes away from home. Teammates mobbed Hale, and the Miners celebrated their third win in their first four games.
“We all grow up kind of fantasizing of doing that, kind of dreaming of that, and for me to do that, it just felt so crazy,” Hale said. “I kind of went a little bit of shock afterward. Just like, ‘Man, did that really go in?’”
Hale had arguably his best game of the season in the win over Morgan, scoring a team-high 24 points, including the buzzer-beater to put the Miners on top for good. The senior is Park City’s top scorer this season heading into Friday night’s game against Wasatch, and his emergence this year has given the Miners a leader on the court and away from it.
It wasn’t always this way, either. Hale was cut from the sophomore team two years ago and worked his way toward being the player he is now.
“He went from being cut from the sophomore team to, I think, if he doesn’t pick up a whole bunch of Division III offers, I think they’re crazy,” Park City coach Thomas Purcell said. “Anyone that has his attitude, his work ethic, his ability to shoot the ball can play on most teams.”
Purcell mentioned how Hale leads by example. Part of that is Hale’s work ethic and dedication to improving his game. During the pandemic, he would shovel snow off the basketball court in his neighborhood and shoot “250 makes” every day.
“You do what you want to do, and I didn’t have much of anything to do during that time,” Hale said.
After Hale’s sophomore season, he caught Purcell completely off guard. Purcell said that, due to COVID-19 regulations during Hale’s sophomore year, different grades were in different gyms for tryouts, so the coaches were in different gyms as well. Hale added that he had recently had surgery and had just gotten cleared to play a couple of days before tryouts, so he was out of shape.
“After the season was over, we kind of starting shooting around again and playing some games,” Purcell recalled. “I thought, ‘Who the hell is that guy? Did he transfer in?’ No, he got cut. I didn’t know who he was, and that was kind of our first introduction.
“I said, ‘Well, anyone that can shoot the ball that way can play for me. He likes to shoot the ball, and he’s a great shooter. He just kept getting better and better and better nonstop. He works really hard.”
Now, Hale and Lockwood serve as senior captains, and both have the potential to lead Park City in scoring on any given night. In Park City’s win over Taylorsville on Nov. 29, Lockwood had a team-high 26 points, while Hale had another 15 with three three-pointers on the night. Park City dug itself a big hole early in that game, and Hale helped rally the team to get back in the game and eventually come away with the win.
“He was a vocal leader at that point, got things stabilized,” Purcell said. “We chipped away, we won that game the right way. I think his leadership is developing, but kids naturally follow him. That’s what made him a captain in the spring, and he’s been a good choice.”
Their style is complementary of each other. Lockwood is more of an outgoing, talkative type of captain, while Hale lets his actions speak for themselves.
“He does a great job, he leads by example, he’s a really good leader talking to people,” Lockwood said. “Even if you ask other people, I’m definitely a lot louder. It’s almost to a fault, but I’ve definitely been more vocal, which I think is important.”
The two are close friends away from the court, and for as good of a basketball player as Hale is, Lockwood thinks of him as an even better person.
“Obviously, he’s a great basketball player, but even as a person, he’s a great person. He’s always doing the right thing. We’ve played together for four years at this point. I’m on the same teams, and we’ve always been in the same role. So, I’ve gotten really close to him. He’s one of my closest friends, and he’s just a great guy.”
Last year, Hale had some playing time at the varsity level, but he’s cranked it up to a completely different level this year. Purcell went from being happy with his performance any time Hale scored last year to leaning on Hale to put the ball in the basket this year. Hale’s play should also open up the playbook for Park City on offense.
“I think how we’re defended as a team is going to change because of him and because of the way he’s shot the ball,” Purcell said. “I think people will follow him, there won’t be any help off of him. That will open up the floor for our big guys, and that will open up the floor for other guards to really do some damage.”
Park City fell to 3-2 on the season with a loss to Cottonwood at home Wednesday night ahead of its trip to Heber City on Friday. Hale’s hope for his senior year is that the Miners finish the year with a winning record, which the Miners have struggled to attain historically.
But regardless of the way the rest of the season plays out for Park City, he’ll always have the one night in Morgan when he silenced an entire gym on the road.