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Show I a- i ' " 1 r OC - lrr Vr - l I I $ .y v 7 ' v ' 7 i "v vj , , i I ?1 i " - I BRAVES INEXPERIENCED By DAVE WIGHAM BOUNTIFUL Nothing has ever come easy to Bounti-ful's Bounti-ful's basketball coach, Mike Hall. When he was younger and playing athletics he was always al-ways one of the smallest players. THING WAS though, he always al-ways found a way to make up : for anything and produce a winner. The third year head man for the Braves got the program back on the winning track last year as he guided the club into the state tournament for the first time in many seasons. Along the way his club gained a share of the region championship. cham-pionship. They tied with Viewmont. NOW THE task before him is to mold a group of inexperienced inexperi-enced players into a unit and get them back into the state event. "I hate the word rebuilding. re-building. As a great coach once noted, we are not rebuilding just reloading. Most of our players graduated last year so we have a group that didn't see much varsity action. They'll make mistakes early in preseason presea-son but I honestly feel we can battle with anyone when league rolls around." Concerning the league this year, Mike noted that four clubs will enter the playoffs. "Viewmont, Highland and Woods Cross have solid clubs and will be in the top of the region, which means the fourth spot is open and we'll battle for that. We just might knock off some of those people along the way though," he added with a gleam. THUS FAR this season leading lead-ing the Braves is junior Danny Bell. You will recall Dan started for the Braves two years ago as a sophomore but a back injury prevented him from attending school last year so he returns this year as a junior. "Sure Bell has varsity experience but it's been two Bountiful will field a young and inexperienced basketball basket-ball team this year but still the Braves are looking for big things from this group. Top players include, 1 to r, Todd Smith, Alan Meldrum, Lex Brown, Mike Woodbury, Wood-bury, Terry Ferrell, Danny Bell and Richie Weight. years since he played," noted his coach. Dan stands 6'4" and is an excellent inside player, the one the Braves count on for the big plays. Bountiful features two big players up front in seniors Alan Meldrum and Mike Woodbury. Both are tall and have plenty of weight to throw around, and both are excellent football prospects for college. They'll surprise people though with their shooting touch, both can rebound and score inside. "We're probably the biggest team in the state, not the tallest, tal-lest, just the biggest," joked Coach Hall. THE ONLY other senior on this year's squad is swingman Terry Ferrell who'll see action at both forward and guard. At 6'2" Terry can play the big guard role or move down into the small forward spot. He's a hard worker who the coaches feel will get better with time. Coach Hall, along with assistants Mike Evans and Stan Buchanon, look to the youth of the program for help this year. Not only will some juniors see action but the coaches are looking at a couple of sophomores to see some playing time with the big boys. THE JUNIORS stock up the guard line with Phil Schmutz, Lex Brown, Doug Wehrli, and Todd Smith all available. Brown and Smith have been getting a lot of playing time thus far and have both responded re-sponded well. Both are good shooters and handle the ball well. Up front junior Richie Weigt and John Neuenshwander are ready. Richie has great jumping jump-ing ability and helps out in the rebounding. Last year he set a school record in the high jump as a sophomore while attending attend-ing Viewmont. COACH HALL dresses a bunch of sophomores for the varsity games and he isn't hesitant hesi-tant to put any of them in. Blake Izatt, Gary Seljaas, Steve Hibbert and Matt Thorn-ley Thorn-ley are all being counted on heavily for the future. As mentioned the Braves got to the state event for the first time in many years last season and this group wants to get back there this year. They are young and will improve with time. Watch for the Braves to make a good run at the region. |
