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Show MARCH 10. 1987 L, By KEITH DUNCAN When SALT LAKE CITY two forces fight for a prize with equal zeal, with equal concentration and intensity, the end result is bound to provide uncompared happiness on one side and bitter, e feelings on the other. Such was the case last Saturday evening at the University of Utahs Special Events Center where two Region Four rivals, the Davis Darts and Viewmont Vikings were staging a war in hopes to bring home a consolation championship in the latter moments of the 1987 basketball tournament. hard-to-tak- 4-- A The war ended in dramatic fashion, enough to cause most to miss a heartbeat as Viewmonts Curtis Call unleashed a with no time remaining in the first overtime, a shot that nearly tore the net from the rim. That last second, desperation heave proved fatal for Davis as the Vikings were awarded a 8 victory, thus becoming the consolation winners in the 1987 event. Emotions ran rampant in either Special Events tunnel after the game. In one, the bewildering silence resembled something like a funeral setting as Davis tried to live with the loss. It was a Dart team that had shot well and played hard all week, only to slack off in its shooting skills on Saturday night and find themselves in thick of the dogfight against a team theyd beaten twice during the regular season. Davis Robison was heartbroken after the loss but didnt want to dwell on that nights performance, because I dont want it to detract from the success weve had all year. These kids deserve a lot of credit. But in the other tunnel, Viewmont was erupting with elation. After UHSAA Board of Director member and the principal of Viewmont, Nancy Fleming, had presented the consolation trophy to the team, the Viking fans and following went wild. For Coach Clyde Nelson, it was all he could do to hold back the tears. The third year head coach has certainly seen more bitter than sweet during those years, but Saturday nights victory capped off a brilliant season, one of the most memorable basketball years in the schools athletic history. In the locker room afterwards. Nelson told his team that 5 was as good a record as youd find anywhere in the state and the kids erupted with another wave of glee. Nelson emotionally told the team he was proud of them and complimented them again for continually coming back, time after time in the face of adversity. They fought this season like many of us fight the battles of life. It all boils down to just sticking with it and knowing something good lies around the corner for those who are patient and work hard, said Nelson. Darts suffered through The their worst night of offense of the tournament against Viewmont. Davis took a 2 lead early on but saw Viewmont take the lead at the end of the first quarter after a Scott Bland A Mike Welling offensive rebound was the only field goal Davis could manage in the first three and a half minutes of the second quarter as the cold shooting fact continued to haunt the Darts. But despite that, Viewmont wasnt exactly pulling away and putting the game out of reach. The Vikings were having their hand at some cold shooting as well but always seemed to come up with the big basket when they needed it. Viewmont took a 0 lead after a Jared Blauer jumper but Jeff er 51-4- 19-- 5 19-- oto iyjvti Davis Curtis Stoddard puts a move on both Shaun Faux and Scott McIntosh of Viewmont in the consolation championship game last Bill on look and Call Curtis Crowther Viewonts in overtime, Saturday night at the University of Utah. The Vikings won that game as does Davis Mike Welling. Pearson fall away jumper tied the Davis started winding the clock experienced as a coach, it took two said the schools basketball sucBurningham was the teams or three days to just get over that. cess had ignited excitement in a leading scorer before going down score at 6 with less than a midown. With just eight seconds left. But the kids showed what kind Brad Richins drove toward the basnute to play. lot of activities around the and provided a lot of leadership for Both teams had their chances of ket but in the heavy traffic had the of character they have as they school. this club as well. Coach Nelson adds a lot of winning the game in regulation, but ball stripped by Viewmonts Scott came back when they really didnt neither could capitalize. View- McIntosh who in turn flipped the have to. Crowther was as happy as anygood things to our program, hes mont missed a one and one with ball to Call who netted the game Viewmonts principal, Nancy really stuck in there, said one after the victory because the 1:23 remaining and Davis, which Fleming, who saw a lot of basketsweetness of victory in the 1987 Fleming. winning basket. 51-4- 8. 46-4- controlled the ball for the majority of the time in the final minute, couldnt buy a basket. Brian Emery scored on a p to give Davis the first points in overtime but Faux knotted two freethrows to tie the score again, lay-u- 48-4- 8. With 1:14 remaining in overtime, McIntosh said afterwards that all the credit goes to Coach Nelson for keeping things together. He kept things alive, said McIntosh. Nothing stopped us, said Nelson, Nothing, all season long. Yes, some things did control us. The Hillcrest defeat was perhaps the hardest loss Ive ever ball games last week as she sat with the Utah High School Activities Association Board of Directors, witnessed the Vikings dramatic victory over Davis and was given the opportunity to present the team its consolation championship trophy. Earlier in the week, Fleming had Bland, who pumped in 18 points in the consolation championship victory, said the Vikings really tournament did a lot to overshadow the tough times the past couple of years. jelled after Jason (Burningham) went down. Of course he referred to the serious knee injury that kept Burningham from participating in the latter part of the regular season and throughout the tournament. We were a doormat for a long time and it feels especially good to end our careers (the seniors) as something a lot better than a doormat, said Crowther. Robisons Darts wrap up successful campaign 15-- 9 5-- three-pointe- r. 25-2- Paerson and Brandon Dyer brought Davis back to within one, 4 at halftime. The Vikings built up a 7 lead at one time during the third quarter as Bland got hot from everywhere, eventually netting nine of Viewmonts 13 third quarter points. He and got a nailed a k k basket. But the move cost him dearly as he came down on his wrist and was forced to leave and not play the 25-2- 33-2- . three-point- er slam-dun- slam-dun- final eight minutes. But Davis, despite the fact they couldn't get the ball in the hole with any kind of consistency, came back time after time. Pearsons three-poiplay, the way, put his team in position to start the final quarter. Davis Curtis Stoddard made the first two baskets of the fourth quarter which tied the game at But that momentum didnt last long as Viewmont worked inside with Bill Crowther and Shaun Faux and forged back in front, Stoddard and Pearson once again brought Davis back, in fact a nt 38-3- 8. 44-3- 8. By KEITH DUNCAN SALT LAKE CITY They talk about the miracles of such basketball teams as Viewmont and Bountiful and the impressive finish they tournament last had at the week, but perhaps the truest feat of all was the one in Kaysville. Davis, under the direction of 7 John Robison, came into the basketball season without a single returning starter where every other squad had at least one and sometimes three or four back. Expectations were that East, Viewmont and perhaps Highland might dominate and you could figure Bountiful in there too. Very few would have gone out on a limb and picked Davis to be battling for the region championship in the leagues last week and eventually be playing for the consolation championship at the University of Utah. But Robison blended together a victorclub that netted ies over both Ben Lomond and Brighton and succeeded in knocking off Viewmont twice in region action. On the final night of action in Region Four, the Darts suffered one of the rare lows of the season in losing to Bountiful and thus entered the tournament as the third seed from Region Four. On the prestigious hardwoods at the U. of U., Davis High surpassed even more expectations by playing four nights there and even though 8 overtime loss to Viewthe mont in the consolation championship game will be hard to forget, 4-- A 86-8- pre-seas- 51-4- Robison said with dignity, this team has absolutely nothing to hang their head over. We had more highs than lows, said Robison in reflection of the year. We gave our best and thats all a coach can ask. One of the distinct highlights of the season was the play of senior forward, Jeff Pearson. After seeing little varsity action as a junior, Pearson exploded in 7 and ended up leading Region Four in scoraverage. His ing with a freethrow shooting was exceptional too, as he canned 146 of 156 freethrows over the course of the season. In the coveted state tournament, Pearson showed he could compete with the best of em by again averaging over 20 points per game. Jeff has been a consistent force with the scoring all yearlong, said Robison, And thats not to take anything away from the other players. He just started the thing early and kept it going. In the tournament, Davis 86-8- 20-pl- 4-- A lost their opening game against Brighton 59-5- the 4, theyd beaten earlier in the season. But the Darts came roaring back on Wednesday of last week to pick up a victory over GraThen on Friday the nite, Darts movd into the consolation championship by beating Region Three champion, Skyhng On the tournament's final night, in Davis fell to Viewmont overtime to settle for eighth place. The following is a brief recap of Davis tournament games: same team 78-6- 6. 60-5- 51-4- 8 BRIGHTON 59 DAVIS 54 It was a game here in which both teams played extremely hard, but Brighton got the breaks down the stretch and came away with the victory. Credit has to go to the Davis players who battled back from a 4 deficit midway through the final quarter to make it close. Pearson sank four of four freethrows during the comeback and netted a field goal and an offensive rebound by Brandon Dyer made the score 0 for Brighton with just 2:59 remaining. The Darts made it a game after Pearsons impressive 4 with just 24 seconds left. The Darts eventually got the ball back and were under their own basket but a double dribble call turned the ball back to the Bengals. 52-4- 52-5- one-poi- nt lay-u- p, 55-5- Brighton sank four more freethrows down the stretch for the victory. Pearson ended the first night of tournament play with 26 points, which included 12 of 13 from the freethrow line. Stoddard also contributed 18 points in that game. DAVIS 78 GRANITE 66 After the loss to Brighton on the opening night, it was as if the Davis High team made a pact they were going to spend three more days at tournament. Both Robison the and assistant coach Russell Zaugg did their best to motivate the kids to comeback ready to play against 4-- A Granite. Continued on next page Viewmonts Scott Bland, who had an all-st- ar year for the Vikings goes in for a slam dunk against the Davis Darts in tournament action. Bland had scored 18 points in just three 4-- A quarters before leaving the game with an injured wrist, which he sustained after the slam dunk, shot. Davis Brian Olson follows Bland on the dunk.1 j |