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Show Parowan loses close contest in Mesquite By MIKE CANNON Sports Writer MESQUITE, NEV. - "It would have Ix-en a great one to win, but it wasn't a bad one to lose." Those were the feelings of Parowan Ram coach Mark Heppler following his teams heartbreaking 74-73 overtime loss to Virgin Valley Friday here. "We won it five times and lost it six," exclaimed Heppler. "We just didn't make the foul shots." Friday's contest had all the excitement of a Barnum and Bailey circus, and maybe more. The Rams had an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter when Heppler elected to go into a zone from a man-to-man defense to protect that precious lead. VV started sizzling the nets from outside and that II point lead evaporated speedily. "They didn't miss many shots in the second half," moaned Heppler. Virgin Valley got hot and came back to tie it at the end of regulation. The Rams lost their "quarterback" and best ball handler Kelly Orton at the outset of the final period due to an elbow in the eye. "We lost his ball handling and shooting when we needed it," said Heppler. VV instituted a full-court press throughout the game that was handled lairly well by the Rams, though they did have 20 turnovers. "I didn't think we had that many turnovers," said Heppler. "It wasn't really the press that hurt us." The Rams had their chances in the fourth period but couldn't hit some key shots. They were only 1-7 from the line, with most of those misses coming on the Iront end of one-and-one situations. In overtime PUS trailed by three with seconds lelt when Doug Rogerson hit a bucket to cut the lead to one. There was a foul against Virgin Valley away from the ball and the Rams were at the line with a one-and-one and chance to tie or win. The lirst foul shot was good but olficials said the Ram player overtoed and the point was negated, resulting in the 74-73 final. Rogerson had an excellent outing, hitting lor 23 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Robbie Stevens added 17 points and Mike Robinson had 10. Stevens came within inches of hitting a three-quarter court shot at the end of regulation that would have given PUS the win. It was that type of a game for Parowan. everything was within their grasp but they couldn't quite hold on. Parowan had a good night statistically. "I look at the stats and I can't believe we lost," said Heppler. The Rams were 48 percent from the field and had 32 boards. They grabbed an incredible 16 steals, had (i blocked shots and 19 assists. |