OCR Text |
Show 'Born again' Reds dump Binos By LEE WARNICK Record Editor Someone had better check what Cedar High's basketball team had for breakfast Friday--and patent it. The Redmen must have had some kind of tiger in their tanks Friday night, as they put together their best game of the year, a 61-49 extinction of the favored Dinos of Carbon in the Cedar Gym. Comparative scores thusfar would have established the Price school as five to seven-point favorites. But a poor performance on the Dinos part, as well , as Cedar's good overall showing, combined to give the Redmen a win in their opening Region Six match. What was most remarakable was Cedar's general sudden turnabout. The team which had had considerable difficulties handling opposition pressure suddenly did it with style and poise. The team which had had problems with excessive turnovers suddenly cut them down-just two in the first half. The team whose offensive patterns and movements were inconsistently in-consistently executed, moved the ball around well and were rewarded with good shots, both inside and outside. But if one were to pinpoint the big difference between Friday night's ; effort and those of most of the previous games, it would be confidence. The Redmen, even fairly recently, played tentatively and looked nervous almost constantly. Against Carbon they exuded confidence-they took the game, offensively and defensively, to the Dinos. They were rewarded with the resounding 12-point victory. The teams opened play just about basket for basket, and even though Cedar led by just one, 16-15, after one quarter, their overall play was excellent. ex-cellent. Especially hot were Kevin Garrett, with eight (4-for-4) first quarter points and Lee Wood, with four and a lot of help on the boards. It was the second quarter that did the Dinos in. The Redmen held the visitors scoreless until 2:53 of the quarter. By that time, Cedar led 26-15. Cedar coach John Nielsen explained what made the real difference. "Going into the second quarter we went into a . triangle and two defense to try and shut off (Carbon guard Lloyd) Jensen. They didn't seem to adjust well to it all game." Garrett hit numbers five and six in a row from the field early in that quarter, and with Wood and guard Kevin Hunter chipping in occasional shots, the Redmen took a 35-22 halftime lead. That lead came not only from good shooting, but a well-played defense which forced a host of Carbon turnovers. tur-novers. The Redmen, thanks mostly to Garrett and Wood also owned both the defensive and offensive boards. But even this potential rout would be no picnic. Just 1 :46 into the second half Garrett was called for his fourth foul. He would sit on the bench for the next nine minutes. With their big man out, the Redmen immediately began to suffer. They committed as many turnovers in the third quarter than the rest of the game combined. Their shot selection hit the skids. And, for a few minutes, Cedar fans got a glimpse of the team that had gone 4-6 so far. But Wood once more took charge, netting two quick late third-period buckets to once more turn the momentum to Cedar. After playing basket-for-basket-type ball for the first four minutes of the final period, Carbon starting tightening up the pressure. It hurt them. Cedar showed a lot of maturity in handling the intense pressure, and proceeded to put on a 10-2 blitz in less than three minutes to blow the Dinos out. With the score 61-41 with less than three minutes left, the Redmen folded up shop and gave up the last eight points to end up with the somewhat deceiving 12-point victory. As expected, coach John Nielsen was elated with his charges' performance. "I knew if we would keep hanging in there, something like this would happen," hap-pen," he said. "The kids were mentally ready in every way to play this game. It showed." Nielsen especially prasied the play of a couple of players. "Kevin Hunter did an outstanding job of handling defensive defen-sive pressure. And Lee Wood had one of his best games of the year. Lee is really our only fellow with experience, and the other kids look to him as the emotional leader." Center Kevin Garrett, Nielsen added, "had another one of his consistent, fine perormances." Once more, a comparatively sparse crowd showed up to cheer on the Reds, now 5-6 on the season and 1-0 in Region Six. In fact, one Cedar High teacher reported that attendance at 1980-81 basketball games was so poor, the school was losing some money at each home game. Coach John Nielsen is somewhat perturbed with the lack of local support at Cedar's home games, and said, "Our boys are trying the best they can, and will continue to try the best they can, even if they have to do it alone." : h : to? Cedar's 6-5 Kevin Garrett puts up a jumper during the Red men's 61-49 victory over Carbon Friday. Garrett netted 18 points, though sitting out more than a quarter with foul trouble. |