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Show Braves Blow Past Layton By DAVE WIGHAM SALT LAKE CITY Most coaches agree that if you're going to knock off one of the big boys in the state tournament tourna-ment then the best time is to get them in the opening round. YOU CAN'T convince Coach Doug Moon of Layton about your philosophy after he witnessed his team's loss of 80-65 80-65 to the number one ranked Bountiful. "It's tough to come into a tournament and play the number four team from another league," noted Coach Mike Hall of Bountiful. "You're expected to win and win big. This is a well balanced tournament as some of the earlier ear-lier scores indicate. Layton is a much better team than the one out there tonight," he added. The catalyist of this win was senior guard Lex Brown who was all over the floor scoring 38 points on a variety of shots. He had lay-ups on fast breaks, foul shots and some timely jumpshots that just seemed to nna meir way into tne nets. At times, it appeared a higher force than we know about, was helping the 5' 10" guard. "WHEN LEX plays well for us, it seems to lift the entire team," added Hall. The team caught fire in this battle as they broke open a close ballgame in the second and third periods. Bountiful did have a plan. They were going to clog up the middle for Layton's talented junior Keith Williams. This worked in some respect, but then junior guard Jeff Moon found himself wide open for the jump shot outside as he poured in 16 to lead the Lancers Lan-cers in scoring. THIS BATTLE soon turned into Lex Brown and his band of renown as the little speedster speeds-ter had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand at every move. He was everywhere at both ends of the floor, stealing, steal-ing, shooting, passing, dribbling, drib-bling, you name it Lex was doing it. CREDIT HIS teammates, as well, as they soon realized he was having one of those games and they tried to get him the ball. Coach Hall was pleased with the play of his sixth and seventh man. "They bailed us out again like they have so many times this year. Thorn-ley Thorn-ley and Smith could probably start for most other clubs, and although they don't start for us, they are certainly a big reason for our success," he added. THIS GAME started out to be a good battle but it ended in one of those routes everyone expects in the opening round between a first and fourth place finisher. Besides Brown and his 28 points, the Braves had another fine effort from senior Dan Bell who ended the evening with 15 points despite being the target of special attention from the Layton defense. THE WIN sent the Braves into the quarterfinals against a young Hillcrest team that Coach Hall compared to the one he had last year. "They are just like us in that they are young and just peaking at the right time. All I really know about them is that they shoot extremely well from the outside," out-side," he concluded. |