OCR Text |
Show . i m - 'A :l v ' .1 ''Z&f&Sr ' ft 11 'I f ' " , j n :x; y , A 1 - o' ' 1 ( V ' j 1 (gUX7!tn X "i , x ?! XX i ;ilTit. xl ( PHOTO BY ROGER TUTTLE Bountiful's Tony Smith, 24, and unidentified Bingham player scrambled for lose ball in early pre-season game. Now, Region Four prep teams will be scrambling for the league crown and shot at the state title: Region games begin Friday. Highland is favored Davis schools open Region Four prep action Friday; Braves Vikings clash in league opener By GARY R. BLODGETT Davis County prep basketball teams will have their work cut out for them as they enter Region Four league play Friday. The team most talked about this year is Highland, High-land, undefeated in preseason games thus far. The Rams have taken up in 1988 where they left off in 1987 as Region Four defending champions. cham-pions. Among the Davis County schools with the best preseason record, Davis High's Darts with a 7-3 mark will get first shot at the defending champs, on the Rams' home court. Bountiful, with a 6-4 preseason record but four wins out of the last five games, will host Viewmont with an identical 6-4 record; and Woods Cross, 4-6 for the preseason, will travel to Salt Lake City for a league opener with East. All games begin at 7:30 p.m. The Darts have been impressive in preseason presea-son action with a lot of speed, good defense and outstanding shooting ability. But Davis is a team that will have to prove itself after having an up-and-down preseason schedule. "We lost some games we shouldn't have, and we scrapped and won some games that could have gone the other way , " explained one Dart coach. "We are coming together now and . will have to play exceptionally well against Highland, especially on the Rams' home court." Davis will be looking to little (5-foot 9) Brian Emery to lead the way. He's an excellent outside out-side shooter and floor general averaging nearly 20 points per game. Lanky Mike Welling, 6-foot 5 center, will need to improve on his point average (averaging (averag-ing 10 points per game), while Brian Olson, 6-foot 1 , will be expected to fill the game inside the key. Olson is averaging about 14 points per game. Defensively, it's a team effort with Mark Sargent and Rich Watts leading the way. The Darts will rely on holding the opponents' score down and winning the close, defensive battles. BHS is optimistic Veteran Bountiful High Coach Mike Hall is - optimistic about this year's Braves. "We have a team that is just beginning to find itself," said Mike. "We have won four in a row and four of the last five games using five starting start-ing seniors. We are a good scoring team, but we give up too many points." He said Mitch Thain, 6-foot 4 center, is leading lead-ing scorer with an average of 17 points per game. Jeff Reynolds, 6-foot 2 forward, is in double figures along with junior Troy Fuller, who has been coming off the bench to average about 10 points per game. Defensively, Tony Smith who stands only 5-foot 10, is the top team rebounder with a half dozen per game, while Ryan Jacobs is the Braves' playmaker with his fancy passing and assists. Wildcats improving With the outside shooting of Bret Rogers and the inside play of 6-foot 7 Mike Vanderlin-den, Vanderlin-den, Woods Cross Coach Mike Evans said his team is "playing well but not quite ready for Region Four league play." He said Vanderlinden is improving each week after missing five preseason games because be-cause of an ankle injury. The tall, hot-shooting postman is averaging 14 points per game. Lance Evans, son of Coach Evans, is close behind with 12 points per contest, while Dave Simon is netting 10 counters per game. But Rogers, a little (5-foot 10) senior is gaining most of the glory with his 3-point shooting averaging averag-ing 56 percent from behind the line. Woods Cross is below the mid-mark in preseason pre-season action with a 4-6 won-loss record. "We are beginning to play well as a team, and that's our ultimate objective," said Coach Evans. Vikes are ready Coach Clyde Nelson and the Viewmont High Vikings are coming off a good preseason schedule and should be ready for their traditional tradi-tional cross-city rivalry against Bountiful this Friday at Bountiful. The Vikings have split their game's leading scorers in several games during preseason with Jared Blauer, returning letterman and team captain; 6-foot 10 Brian Bowler; 6-foot 3 senior Paul James; and junior guard David Chidester. Viewmont is a tall team with all but two players over 6 foot and.will.rely pn putscoring . their opponents rather than holding down the score. |