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Show Everything was bright and rosy for the Uintah Utes after they thumped the Union Cougars in Vernal, 70 to 55, on December 8, and the Vernal folks figured their chances of taking first in the Box Elder Tournament on December 13-15 were excellent. However, Uintah's basketball wall came tumbling down as they were crushed by Box Elder, 86 to 57; Layton, 84 to 65 and Bear River, 83-69. The Utes finished 0-3 in the Box Elder Tournament, which was the poorest mark by any of the eight teams in the tournament. Someone had to pay for the Utes' poor showing in the tournament tourna-ment and that someone was Grand Junction Central as they were smashed by the victory hungry Utes in Vernal, 90 to 75. The game wasn't as close as the final score indicates. Uintah had a 27-point lead of 75 to 48 going into the fourth quarter. Sophomores, juniors and second string seniors played most of the final quarter for the Uintah Utes. "Some good things came out of the Box Elder Tournament. We had to rebound re-bound and be patient with our offense. The win over Grand Junction Central was a total team effort. It is the best defensive game we have played so far this year," stated Uintah hoop coach, Ron Moore. "We played our younger kids a lot in the fourth quarter. We were looking and hitting the open man in the game with Grand Junction Central. We rebounded well and we controlled the tempo of the game, which is something we have to do. We were patient with our offense in the game." Brent Labrum and Derrin Gardiner were the top scorers for the Uintah Utes in the win over Grand Junction Central with 18 points. "It feels good to win again. We had a good team effort and balanced scoring. Union High School plays tough on their home court. Se we will have to play to the best of our ability abili-ty to beat them," said Derrin Gardiner. The Utes thumped Union in Vernal, 70-55, and the Vernal crew will invade Roosevelt for another close encounter of the Uintah-Union kind, Friday. Uintah's two other double figure scorers in the game against Grand Junction Central were Ron Ellis, 15 and Burke Buckalew, 14. "It's good to come back and win after losing three games in a row. Our patience on offense is our biggest improvement and our coach did a great job," staled Ron Ellis. One of Uintah's ' starting guards, " Burke" Buckalew' 'reiriarked, "We played good teamwork for a change. We have a good bench that enables us to sit down and let them play." One of Uintah's players on the bench is guard, Marty McCarrel. "We got a lot of support and the guys who don't start get support from the starters when they are in the game," said McCarrel. Mc-Carrel. "It's going to be a team effort all year, and we showed in the win over Grand Junction Central what we can do." After six varsity basketball games the Uintah Utes are shooting 42 from the field and 72 from the foul line. Uintah has hit 147 out of 350 field goal attempts, and have converted 116 out of 162 free throws. The Utes' opponents have hit 186 out of 359 for 52 in the field goal department, and have hit 95 out of 147 free throw attempts for 65. The Uintah Ute with the best field goal shooting percentage is Burke Buckalew at 48-65, 74 after six games. Joe Gardiner hit 11 out of 17 for 65, and Ron Gardner put in 27 out of 52 for 52. Other field goal marks are: Derrin Der-rin Gardiner, 22-78, 28; Ron Ellis, 18-63, 28; Brent Labrum, 26-53, 49 and Clark McClellan, 15-32, 47. Brent Labrum is the number one Ute in the free throw department after six games at 22-24, 92. Derrin Gardiner has hit 24 out of 29 for 83, and Clark McClellan has popped in 16 out of 21 for 76. Other free throw marks are: Brent Labrum, 24-35, 69; Ron Gardner, Gard-ner, 8-13, 62; Ron Ellis, 9-15, 60; Joe Gardiner, 4-7, 57; Marty McCarrel, 7-14, 50 and Dave Stone, 2-2, 100. The top rebounder on the Uintah team after six games is Derrin Gardiner Gar-diner with 20 offensive boards and 41 defensive boards for 61 rebounds. Ron Ellis has pulled clown 12 offensive rebounds re-bounds and 32 defensive boards for a total of 44. Other Uintah rebound totals are: Burke Buckalew, 20; Ron Gardner, 21; Brent Labrum, 26; Joe Gardiner, 21; Clark McClellan, 9; Dave Stone, 1 and Marty McCarrel, 5. Uintah has outre-bounded outre-bounded its opponents, 205 to 178. However, Uintah has committed 134 fouls as compared to their opponents' 113 fouls. The top assist man for Uintah after six games is Burke Buckalew with 29. Ron Gardner is number two at 16. Other Utes, who have nabbed assists are: Clark McClellan, 9; Derrin Gardiner, 9; Ron Ellis, 6; Brent Labrum, 6; Marty McCarrel, 4; Joe Gardiner, 2; and Dave Slone, 1. Uintah was burned by Scott Hill, Box Elder, 29 points; Dave Burke, 30; Mark Lee, 25, Layton; Hunter Greene, 22 and Gary Miller, 20, Bear River, in the Box Elder Tournament. Uintah's win over Grand Junction Central showed a great improvement in defense for the Vernal team as nobody on the Central team scored more than 18 points. The Utes dropped players who had ideas of 20 or 30 points dead in their tracks. |