Tooele put the hammer down on the Stallions in the third quarter of Friday’s game at Stansbury.

The Buffaloes hit nine-for-nine from the field in the period and outscored the Stallions 19-10 to expand its halftime lead from four points to 13 at the end of three quarters.

Tooele had a game-high lead of 15 early in the fourth quarter and withstood a mini Stansbury spurt in the fourth to win 56-45 in the first game between the two rival schools.

“We were rushing our shots in the first half and we weren’t moving the ball on offense,” said Tooele coach Ray Brazier. “Our emphasis in the second half was to stop their inside penetration because they were outscoring us in the paint. We also needed to pass the ball better on offense.”

Stansbury’s Reggie Roberts took control early and scored the first five points of the game and when Brandon Mohler drilled a 10-footer from the baseline the Stallions led 7-2.

Tooele battled back thanks to a 3-pointer from Jake Holt and 3-pointer from Travis Brady to slice the Stallions’ lead to 9-8 and the Buffaloes tied the game at 11 when Wade Memmott sank a 16-footer from the left side and was fouled for a 3-point play.

Tooele grabbed its first lead at 14-13 just as time expired in the first quarter when Holt connected on a 3-pointer, but Roberts responded with a 3-pointer to start the second quarter and the Stallions were back up 16-14.

Darius Lopez helped keep the Stallions in the game with some hustle plays on offense and points in the paint to keep his team in front 18-16. With 2:03 until halftime, Roberts drove three-quarters court for a lay-up and the Stallions led 22-19. The Stallions would lead the game for the last time at 22-21.

Tooele’s Paul Johnson hit two foul shots and banked in a shot at the halftime buzzer to give Tooele a 28-24 advantage.

The Buffaloes scored 10 of the first 12 points in the third quarter on baskets from Spencer Bunn, Baylan Horrocks and three inside buckets from Brady. Brady drove in and scored and then picked off a Stansbury inbound pass for another quick score and Tooele led 38-28. A 3-pointer from Holt lifted the Buffs’ lead to 41-30. Mohler hit a 3-pointer for Stansbury, but the Buffaloes grabbed additional points on a trey from Memmott and another basket from Brady to lead 47-34 after three quarters.

The Stallions did not go away in the fourth and scored the first seven points which prompted a timeout from Tooele with the Buffs ahead 49-41 with 5:13 left in the game.

Roberts drilled a 3-pointer with 4:11 to cut the lead to 52-44, but that was as close as the Stallions would get in the final frame. Bunn and Johnson hit foul shots as time wound down to keep the lead as the Buffs took the air out of the ball.

Tooele ended up hitting seven 3-pointers compared to four for the Stallions with Holt leading the way with four. Roberts hit three 3-pointers for the Stallions. Tooele was also good from the foul line hitting nine-of-13 while the Stallions hit five-of-11.

Tooele rotated in 10 players and eight players scored points.

“We played with three guards because we wanted to play an up-tempo game,” Brazier said.

Meanwhile, only four players scored for Stansbury. Taylor Hunt, who usually scores in double figures for the Stallions, was off his game and did not score. Brazier said his team wanted to be aware of Hunt on the floor because they knew he was a great shooter.

Top scorers for the Buffaloes were Brady and Holt with 15 points each, Bunn scored nine while Johnson and Memmott each had six.

Roberts scored a game-high 22, Lopez scored nine and Ty Barton seven to lead the Stallions. Tooele’s region record improved to 2-4 while the Stallions are 0-6.

Tooele will host East on Friday and Stansbury hosts Olympus tonight.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com