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Show imjteiriHoapaeld FcSO ECCll OiiiOP Fo? RPSt PlQGG By DAVE WIGHAM CLEARFIELD - Going into in-to last week's games, the Clearfield basketball team had a two game lead over the pack and looked like they might run away with the title. AS ONE opposing coach noted, "If they win this Friday the race is over." That Friday win never came though as the Falcons ran into a buzz saw in the Bountiful team, as the Braves handed the Clearfield Clear-field club their second league loss of the season. Meanwhile the Layton Lancers were playing probably proba-bly the best game of the season for them as they handed the Vikings of View-mont View-mont a convincing setback. THAT SETS up the battle this week when the Lancers take their act over to the Clearfield gymnasium for the game that could go a long way in determining the region champion. Clearfield, despite the loss, is still in sole possession of first place in the league with a 9-2 mark while the Lancers are right behind tied with Roy at 8-3. A Lancer win would throw the race into at least a two-way tie, three-way if Roy downs Bonneville, but a Falcon Fal-con win would give them some breathing room. BOTH CLUBS do have something in common. They have both been upset by Bountiful. In their first meeting meet-ing though the Lancers handled the Falcons, which puts the revenge aspect on the Clearfield side of the ledger. In looking at this game if comes down to key matchups in each area with each club , holding an edge in certain positions. IN THE backcourt here's the pros and cons: Clearfield's Larry Reid is a 1 good ballhandler who likes to work the ball inside to the big people. Layton will counter with Willy Ferneau who is more of an offensive threat, he's quicker and jumps better than his counterpart. However, the Falcons don't look to Reid for offense. THE OTHER battle will be between Mark Read of Clearfield Clear-field and Dave Burke of Lay-ton. Lay-ton. Mark showed last week he can score and Burke is the outside threat for the Lancers. Coach Johansen of Viewmont called last week's effort of Burke against his club "one of the best I've seen. He can really handle the ball and pass extremely well." In the middle is where the action is and where it will be with Russell Florence going up against Gordon Anderson of Layton. Both are the main point-getters for their clubs. Both handle the ball and go to the hole extremely well for big people. The only edge here is that Anderson is. taller. ONE FORWARD matchup will be Rodger Vincent of Clearfield going head to head with Brandon Flint of Layton. Vincent is the better jumper than the two, but Flint uses his size to box out well. Vincent Vin-cent has been scoring more but Flint poured in 25 last week against the Vikings to show he can score. The other forward spot is a definite edge to the Lancers and could be the difference in the game. Matt Stireman of the Lancers is extremely quick and jumps well which puts a lot of pressure on Mark Wayment of Clearfield. Stireman is averaging in double figures for the league action while Wayment is sometimes overlooked by opponents. op-ponents. CLEARFIELD is an unselfish unsel-fish team. They work the ball around until they can get it inside for a good shot while Layton will score from anywhere. Look for a great ballgame. |