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Show Times Newspaper Thursday, February 5, 2004 Page B3 Mfi cgogd to oafiDaa of Younger players step up for both squads, provide key contributions on both ends I f . . ' ft'.'' ytf tr-i v ' , 1 , - V : " ' ' ' V v. i ' " J 1 ' " , , I S i . , , ; - : - I : photo by Landon OlsonTimes Newspaper Mountain View's Abe King and Orem's Bryan Gonzalez (20) dive for a loose ball during Friday's game at Mountain View while Bruin Evan Astle trails the action. LANDON OLSON Times Sports Editor were they left of as Michael Blake sunk a three and Astle followed it with a putback inside. Astle finished with 12 points, all on putbacks or inside buckets. The speed and athleticism down low is hard to keep up with. He definitely stepped It was a game that just got away. Not in the final seconds, but with a big surge in the first half Using a 14-0 run, Mountain View built up up and helped us a lot down, Young said, a 28-16 halftime lead, dictating tempo Orem fought back to within 13, 42-29, in the against the Orem Tigers and cruising to the final minutes of the third, but three straight 58-24 victory Friday at home. inside baskets pushed the lead back to 19 for "It got away from us. It just got away from Mountain View, and it was just too much for us in the second quarter and they got that Orem to overcome in the final quarter, lead," said Orem coach Mike Conner. Leading the Bruins was Johnson who had They're a good basketball team on their 17 points, while Astle was the only other floor and we just had that stretch where it player to reach double figures, although kind of got away from us." seven other players scored. The Bruins other For Mountain View (2-1, 13-2) , one of the top scorer, Nate Allman, was held to three goals going in was making sure the Tigers (2- points. 2, 9-8) were unable to slow "It kind of proves we're the game down and control not a two man team," Young the pace. By going up big "The SpeGQ HlU. said. "We definitely have early, the Bruins caused j.ti j two great players, but we've Orem to push its pace, let- aimeilClSm aOWIl got 14 others - 14 players, ting the score creep above innr 2C Vi ovrl tr nine others who can step 50, right were the Tigers 1UW 1S 1141 w in and hold their own and don't want it. keep UP with." e'P us out an tnose nt- "A lot of that was because tie things that it takes in we started out pretty well," Bruin coach Jason Young their role to help our team." said Bruin coach Jason on forward Evan Astle A couple of those were Young. "We had a lead and John Belliston and Abe they kind of had to go and King. Both big guys inside, had to try to drive and penetrate and play a lit- they played key minutes relieving the Bruin tie more aggressively. I felt like that helped." starters, as well as helping out on the offen- In the early going, though, it was the sive end as they each had four points. Tigers who were able to edge out to a small While Cusick had 15 for Orem, leading the lead. Craig Cusick started the game by hit- Tigers was junior Alex Call. Call finished ting a baseline jumper, Alex Call made a steal with 16 points, including a pair of 3s, to help and layup, then Cusick followed that with a keep the Tigers within range in the second three-point play to give Orem a 7-5 lead. half. This is the second straight game Call The Bruins first five points came inside, has come up big in, as he had 15 points and then they tied it on a putback by Evan Astle, led the Tigers Jan. 27 against Timpanogos. before Cusick made a steal and short jumper "I thought he was just ready to play and to regain the lead for the Tigers. he's played very, very well," Conner said. That's when Mountain View changed the "He's playing so hard and he gets hustle game up a bit. Instead of going inside, Bryan points. He just gets so many hustle points Dickinson knocked down a 3 from the left and he plays so hard, I told him that I was wing to give the Bruins a 10-9 lead. Astle really proud of the way he played." scored on another putback, then Danny Mountain View was in action Tuesday at Johnson drilled a 3 to give Mountain View a Pleasant Grove, wrapping up the first half of 15-9 edge. Region VII play. The Bruins play against The score would reach 21-9 before Orem Friday at Lone Peak. Orem has had the week could finally answer. The Tigers were within off and will play Friday at Pleasant Grove, nine in the final seconds of the half, but Dickinson struck against, hitting the trey Mountain view 58, Orem 42 from the right corner to put the Bruins up f"8 J I 1-4f note j. x. ik- Mtn. View 15 13 20 10 58 28-16 at halftime. They hit two 3s in a row, that kind of got Orem Alex Call 16, Craig Cusick 15. Bryan Gonzalez 6 Colin them going," Conner said. That 3 right at Schmutz2, KaiKamoe 2, Blake Johnson 1 Totals 1 6 8-1 5 42 the half., they Stabbed US with those things. M,n-Vtew Danny Jonnsn 17. Evan Astle 12. Bryan Dickinson mL 4i ui r. 1 u 1 , iL c 8, Michael Blake 5, Abe King 4, A.J. Millet 4, John Bellislon 4, They just hurt us. We don t have the firepow- Na)e Alman 3 Tay)or Wjas , Totas 20 1420 58 er to come back. 3-polnt shot Orem Z (Call 2); Mtn. View 4 (Dickinson 2, In the second, the Bruins continued right Biake, Johnson). PLAYING SMART continued from Page Bl coach high school basketball is kids like him." Orem coach Mike Conner on Lyndon Plothow but as a junior moved up to a starter on the junior varsity team. During his youth, he also played baseball and football, but says he slowly dropped the other sports for basketball. And it seems to have paid ofi) as Lyndon has earned his spot by doing the things a team needs (other than scoring) to win. He s a banger," Conner . . said. "That's "TillS IS Why I what he does. His job is just to put his body on people." Lyndon definitely defi-nitely knows that's his job, and not only that, relishes it. "I just love being in the post and pushing people around and almost wrestling with these guys," he says. Then, slyly, "I like to shove people under the backboard." It's not just shoving and fighting fight-ing inside, though. Lyndon can rebound and is tough on defense. He plays a physical inside game, and is often matched up against one of the opponent's top offensive threats and someone who's bigger than him. He's played against Timpview's Chris Miles, Lone Peak's Brandon Knight and Timpanogos' Wes Snell, but Lyndon just sees it as a challenge and something he can use to his advantage. "It's been awesome. I love playing against bigger guys than me because I'd rather have a big guy than a fast guy," Lyndon said. "You can play physical with them. You can push them around. Refs are a little more lenient when you're smaller." Coupled with an injury to his backup, Tanner Lamb, size is a big part of the reason why Lyndon has been in foul trouble the last couple of games. He fouled out at home against Timpanogos, then again the next game against Mountain View. "We tell him fouls aren't bad," Conner said. "We told him if fouls are bad, they wouldn't give you five of 'em, so get in there and play." Lyndon isn't surprised he gets the fouls partly because of his physical play and just takes it all in stride. "I don't think about fouls. If I go in, I try my hardest and play aggressive," he says. Then, of the Timpanogos game, said, . "I played more than usual. I figured fig-ured I was going to foul out after I got three fouls in the first half I'm not going to scale back my play to not get fouls. IH just play and if I get fouls I get fouls." So he deals with it, like his other challenges, chal-lenges, by play- ' ing a smart game. That means being in the right spot, making the right play, and doing exactly what your coach wants. "He takes he job very seriously," serious-ly," Conner said. "He pays very close attention to what you want him to do and he really tries to do it. He's just a great kid. He's coachable. He's intelligent." Not just on the court either. Lyndon is a 4.0 student, Academic All-State candidate and has a schedule loaded with tough AP classes. Well, maybe tough to some. "Most classes are pretty easy," Lyndon said. "Spanish was pretty hard. I don't like Spanish too much." To start the season, Lyndon was taking four AP classes English, Spanish, statistics and government but dropped the Spanish at the semester break. "I try to challenge myself but not overextend myself," he said. His favorite class is government govern-ment because he loves learning about the constitution, and says he wants to be a lawyer. He's already been accepted to BYU and said he thinks he can get an academic scholarship. It's not just all basketball and study, though. In his free time he likes to read and play video games, and Conner said Lyndon is quiet off the court, something that doesn't seem likely from someone who likes to battle on the court so much. But to Lyndon, it's just a matter mat-ter of doing the job he can do to the best of his ability. Even if that means not getting much of the spotlight and having the chance to score. "We tease him because we tell him his mom and dad want him to shoot more 3s, but he understands his role really well," Conner said. " I think probably he'd like to shoot more. We're not telling him not to shoot more, we're just putting the limits on what shots we'd like him to shoot" Conner is just a bit off with that thought, though. "I know I'm not the best shooter, so I try to make up for it," Lyndon says. Tm perfectly happy with my role. Fd rather not shoot, because I'd just rather push people around, get rebounds, take charges." By doing so, he's been helping help-ing the Tigers win. They've already surpassed many expectations, sitting at 9-8 overall and battling for one of the top region spots, currently in third at 2-2. Although it won't show up in the box score, Lyndon is a big part of the team's success due to his hard work. Perhaps he's even most reflected in his choice of a favorite basketball player John Stockton, the retired Utah Jazz star. "I just like people who work hard to get where they are," Lyndon said. And obviously so do others, especially Mike Conner. Just a6k the coach after a game who was a key factor. It's likely youH hear Lyndon's name. "Our unsung hero every single sin-gle game is Lyndon Plothow. I love the kid. He just plays as hard as he can play." Unsung no more, coach. , Profile ' -Ninne: Lyndon Plothow Position: Center Hdgfet! 6-fx.'t-3 Class: Senior Kegior points jMr game: 1.0 Ufi M:x J V '' x ' oi ' ' - - ii f !tak.jiiaiHminii ' . , ' ' r " ' . .. m r m : . f ,: . . - 'j-- v '-.--- -tr--'---- yx " ' : r - photo by Landon OhonTimes Sewspuper Lyndon Plothow holds the ball In the lost post against the Timpanogos defense during the first half of the Jan. 27 game at Orem. |