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Show OREM TIMES Thursday, March 1, 2007 Sports Page 10 wo Tigers Continued from Vuge H In tiic decisive early run, every starter contributed, with (iahnelle ftnegar and Chelsea liridgcwater doing most of the damage. Pinegar made two .'is and converted a layup-and-one on her way to scoring nine points in the first six minutes of play. Bridgewa-ter Bridgewa-ter provided her contribution down low, grabbing offensive relxmrul.s and putting them back in to solidify the lead. The stunned ( )rem squad found itself trailing 19-9 by the end of the first quarter. "We just didn't come out intimidated." said Timpview senior Aubrey Reeves. "Today "To-day we just came out and said We're Ix-tter than them, we know we can win.' II was important for us to come out strong and get up to show them that we're in control of this game." And in control of the game the T'Birds remained throughout. through-out. Timpview never trailed in the game that wasn't as close as the final score indicates. Although the Tigers never led, they played hard and deserve de-serve credit for fighting until the last second. The closest ()rem got was a 21 lti deficit midway through the second quarter that came after a 7-2 run. However, around the same time, Tiger (enter Jamie Sagers committed commit-ted her third foul and had to leave the game until two minutes min-utes into the third quarter. Timpview put the game away in Sagers' absence by going on a 15-2 run that spanned the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third. The T'Birds led by as much as 19 points, but Sagers hit two .'is, and Delyse Downey nailed 3 in the final minutes to close the final margin to eight. "Taking Jamie off the floor had a lot to do with things," Reed said. "We just couldn't buy a basket. They played letter than us tonight, and they made a lot of big shots." Orem shot only 22 percent Rough season a learning experience for Bruins boys basketball team Russ Lyman N' (H 1 H l ( jUTj"! Whatever could go wrong did go wrong for Mountain View basketball this season. In every game except for one, Murphy's btw was in full effect. ef-fect. There were several close losses along the way, but the one that epitomized the Bruins' Bru-ins' season was their home loss to Timpanogos. After Mountain View thought it had forced overtime over-time in the game, the referees put .5 seconds back on the clock and the T'Wolves made a game-winner to prevent the Bruins from getting their second sec-ond win of the season. "It was tough in a lot of ways as far as our win and loss record wasn't what we wanted." said Mountain View coach Jeff Gardner. "We knew with the coaching change late in the summer that we were going to be behind be-hind the eight ball a little bit." Mountain View's lone win was a thriller against a solid Alta team. Even in that game the odds were stacked against the Bruins as they had to overcome a 10-point fourth quarter deficit. Taylor Russell, Rus-sell, who averaged almost 15 points per game for Mountain View hit a long three with only seconds left to get a one- Brought to You By f5 UHin u 1 J 1 I U I I I lUil 'I MlN 1 II II IIEV LUillMJPm'i 11 r 1 ?20 South STAfpSTREET-OrGIll SATURDAY ERM Look for our Next Show r.r.trm tto WWW, heraldoxfra.com yellowpages from the field in the first half, and 35 percent for the game. Timpview's offense was led by Kelden Wright, Reeves and Karlee Weight who had 13, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Pinegar finished with nine points and five assists, while Bridgewa-ter Bridgewa-ter added six points and nine rebounds. As a team, the T'Birds made half of their shots from the field. "We just didn't play very good defense," Reed said. Although the Tigers were disappointed in the final result, re-sult, the team played hard. Senior Jessica Saliby was all over the court and rebounded from an off night in the semifinal semi-final to finish with 14 points and seven rebounds. Sagers also had 14 points, and Natasha Nata-sha Martin finished with 12 points. Timpview's near-perfect game against Orem came as the culmination of its spectacular spec-tacular play throughout the 4 A Tournament. The T'Birds downed Cyprus and Box Elder El-der before steamrolling Sky View to earn its place in the championship game. "It was inspiring basketball, for these girls to come out and play the way they played," Akina said of his team's tournament performance. "I didn't expect them to turn it up the way they did, and their confidence kept going up and up and up. They played their hearts out." Orem's path to the championship cham-pionship game consisted of wins over East, Bountiful, and Mountain Crest. The state championship is particularly significant for Timpview's six seniors, who have been a part of all the ups and downs that was Timpview basketball during their careers. "It means so much, after being in the finals two times in the last three years and losing," Reeves said. "It's just amazing to finally come out on top, it feels great." I Russ Lyman can be reached at rlymanfaheraldextra. point win. In addition to Russell, the Bruins' other main bright spot was the play of center H olden Jasper who averaged 14.4 points per game this year. Despite the tough 1-20 season, coach Gardner was pleased with how his team persevered through the tough times. "I'm real proud of the guys, we hung together, we didn't have any of them quit," Gardner Gard-ner said. "There aren't many teams that can struggle as bad as we did and not have players quit. The kids practiced prac-ticed well all the way until the end, and they just hung with it and they're going to be better people because of it. "We didn't accomplish all of the goals that we set out athletically. I thought that overall we fought hard, gave it our best effort, and at the end of the day we've got to accept what happens on the scoreboard." Although Mountain View was somewhat down and out this year, at least one local coach thinks the Bruins will be back with the pack in the years to come. "Coach Gardner's done a great job," said Timpanogos coach Clay Anderson. "I think they're going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future." n"i- 'srac our i. r.iv ma vim Tiger girls basketball follows up state title season with Region 7 crown and return trip to championship game Russ Lyman NORTH COUNTY For most teams, a region champioaship and a trip to the state championship game would be an outstanding season. sea-son. For the Orem girls basketball basket-ball team, it's something of a disappointment. "Of course we're disappointed," disap-pointed," said Orem coach Ross Reed shortly after the Tigers' Ti-gers' championsip game loss to Timpview on Saturday night. "It would've been nice to go back -to-back. At least we were here playing, a lot of team's were at home tonight." The loss in the state championship champi-onship game was a bitter pill to swallow in what was otherwise other-wise a very successful year. Perhaps the most important accomplishment for the Tigers was winning the Region 7 championship for the first time in over a decade, a feat that not even last year's state championship cham-pionship team accomplished. Orem's run to the region title included a pair of wins over the T'Birds, including a 40-19 blowout in the first meeting between the teams. The Tigers had a mediocre start to the season, opening with a 64 record over their first 10 games. Orem peaked during region re-gion play and reeled off nine straight wins to start the new year. The Tigers finished the season by winning 13 of 14 games before the loss to Timpview. Throughout the season, Orem played all-around team basketball. Each of the Tigers' top five players averaged more than nine points per game. The gap between the top scorer and fifth scorer was only 2.8 points per game. Four of the team's five starters start-ers were senior. Jessica Saliby led the team in scoring and rebounding. re-bounding. The senior averaged 12. 1 points per game this year. Jamie Sagers, Delyse Downey, Natasha Martin and Stessie Dort also provided significant contributions in their final seasons. The lone returning starter going into next season will be point guard Brianne Larsen who averaged 9.3 points per game. The graduation of the team's core signify's the end of an era, but it's likely that the Tigers Ti-gers will simply reload for another an-other successful run next year. "We had a great season," Reed said. "It's a great bunch of kids." A look at Orem's path to the championship game: 4A semifinal Although she stands at only 5 feet, 4 inches, Brianne Larsen was a giant in Orem's 44-39 4A state semifinal win over Mountain Moun-tain Crest on Friday night at Salt Lake Community College. With the Tigers clinging to a one-point lead after a furious Mustang comeback, Larsen found herself on the line for a one-and-one with 1:36 left in the game. Swish, then ... swish. "I saw that we needed them and tried to just block everything every-thing else out, and just be like, 'It's just like practice,' and put them in," Larsen said. "I just T'Wolves Continued from Page 8 Early on, Timpanogos was able to match the Eagles' skill and intensity. Skyline opened up a 13-6 lead, but the T'Wolves battled back. Weitzeil's replacement, Melissa Me-lissa Brown, who filled in admirably ad-mirably with nine points and six rebounds, made a layup-and-one to bring the score to 13-9. Then Megan Bishop hit a 3-pointer to bring Timpanogos mi rrd of Cosily RoGRna Repairs? Metal Roofing r Hassle Free - Maintenance Free Many Popular Colors to Choose From Long Lasting - 30yr. Warranty Energy Star Approved - Tax Savings ' r 'Call for FREE Estimates! MEBUJndrt 7 Up Ca" For FREE aock List! 181 South 1200 tot'leHMI MARIO RUIZNorth County Orem High School's Jessica Saliby reacts f o a foul call against her during the state 4A quarterfinal game against Bountiful on Thursday. The Tigers won the game, 59-42. wanted this game really bad." After a Mountain Crest miss, the Orem point guard was on the line once again for a one-and-one with the score 40-37. Make that 42-37. Game over, congratulations Mustangs on a nice season. "We tell people, 'Go ahead and foul her. 'cause she's a great foul shooter,' " said Orem coach Ross Reed. "We believe that if we can keep the ball in her hands shooting free throws, that we at least have a shot." Larsen's heroics were not isolated to the final minutes. Orem was out of sync in the early minutes, and fell behind 4-0 before she took over in the first half. Larsen hit a 3-pointer as part of a 7-0 run to give the Tigers the lead for good. The junior scored 11 of her 16 points in the first half, highlighted by a steal and fast break layup at the end of the second quarter that gave the Tigers a 22-13 halftime lead. Mountain Crest came out of the break with a new sense of purpose and subsequently went on a 6-0 run to start the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 22-19. The run was sparked by a pair of easy baskets bas-kets from Jaicee Kuresa. Orem took another nine-point nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, quar-ter, but the Mustangs fought back once again. A Shonnee Mecham 3-pointer, a fast break layup by Erika Mouritsen, a Kuresa layup and a Kamille Lisonbee free throw brought the Mustangs within a point at 38-37 with 2:39 remaining. However, Orem hit its free throws and kept things out of reach from that point on. Larsen wasn't the only Tiger who stepped up her game. Natasha Martin, who had missed the last several weeks due to an ankle injury, finished with nine points and seven rebounds. re-bounds. Eight of Martin's nine points came in the second half. Jamie Sagers quietly added 10 points and four rebounds, to within one. However, that was as close as the T'Wolves would get for the rest of the game. Skyline blew the game open with a 13-0 run at the end of the first half behind the stellar inside-out play of point guard Jenteal Jackson and Peterson. "I was pleased with how the kids came out," Bennett said. "We wanted them to play hard from the beginning Things didn't get any better for Timpanogos in the second half. Less than two minutes is Your Answer! t,;.f mMoutRjy 7BB-333Z ' ' 0 y c,ii iv: and Delyse Downey had eight points and six rebounds. "Just her little presence on the floor, she just makes stuff happen," Reed said of Martin. "She's only about 70 percent, but it's great to have her back because we've missed her." Every contribution the Tigers Ti-gers got was badly needed because be-cause of a rare off night from leading scorer Jessica Saliby, who was shut out in the scoring scor-ing column. "If someone has a bad game, someone else has a good game," Martin said. "It's been that way all season, and everyone every-one does their part." Mountain Crest (21-3) was paced by Kuresa, who dominated domi-nated down low and finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Orem (19-5) will now face Timpview for the state championship. cham-pionship. The contest will be a rematch of the Tigers' narrow win in last year's semifinals, as well as Orem's pair of wins during Region 7 play this year. 4A quarterfinals Sometimes the best thing that can happen in a basketball game is something completely unexpected. Such was the case for the Orem girls team in Thursday afternoon's 4A state quarterfinal quarterfi-nal 5942 win against Bountiful. After starting the game strong, the Tigers had seen the Braves score 10 straight points to take a brief two-point lead. The teams exchanged baskets for a minute and it looked like it would be close. But a problem with getting get-ting the score correct at 22-20 halted the game for a couple of minutes and Orem took advantage advan-tage of the unusual break to regroup. "We were kind of disappointed disap-pointed that we let them back in," said Tiger senior forward Jessica Saliby. "We sometimes lose focus and go through the motions. That was a slap in the face that we needed to step up." into the third quarter, Nelson fouled out after being whistled for a foul, then a technical foul. The disqualification put the already al-ready undermanned T'Wolves at an even greater disadvantage. disadvan-tage. In addition to Brown's solid night, Timpanogos got six points apiece from Neilsen, Stacy Bartholomew and Col-lette Col-lette Covey. Neilsen and Bartholomew Bar-tholomew both added seven rebounds. Teresa Uipi performed well for Skyline (21-1) with 13 Your Source For... Ornamental Iron Scroll Patterns a& vn $ MEiAUfiartr 181 South 1200 tot.leN Sat After a Bountiful free throw, Orem went on to score 11 straight points to end the half and the Braves never threatened again. "The kids played well tonight," to-night," said Tiger head coach Ross Reed. "We had to get out of our zone and go man, but we'd been working on that this week and they did well." The reason for the defensive change was the 3-point shooting shoot-ing by Bountiful early on. The Braves hit four treys in the first half but couldn't make any in the second. Leading the way for Bountiful Bounti-ful was junior guard Kate Paw-lowski, Paw-lowski, who knocked down a pair and finished with 13 total points. But she was held to only two points after halftime. "I thought (senior guard) Stessie Dort did a heck of a job on (Pawlowski)," Reed said. "She doesn't score much, but she's a great defender." At the other end, Saliby paced the Tigers with 18 points and 10 rebounds. She started the game with 10 straight points to get Orem going. "It felt good (to start like that), but a lot of it came from the team," she explained. "We were moving the ball well and things opened up. I wasn't doing do-ing anything special, just what I was supposed to do." Senior center Jamie Sagers added 12 points for the Tigers, while senior guard Delyce Downey put in 11. With the win, Orem advanced ad-vanced to the 4A semifinals for the second straight year. "It's exciting, especially since I'm a senior and this is the last time I'll be playing," Saliby said. "So it's cool to get to this point." Reed said he hopes his girls are enjoying the experience. "The state tournament is about having a good time," he said. "They deserve to be here, so now they just need to go out and have fun." I Jared Lloyd contributed to this report. points and six rebounds and Jackson finished with 11 points and three assists. Timpanogos (11-11) closes its season with a .500 record and a second-place finish in Region 4. "I'm just proud of that group, I'd go anywhere with that group," said an emotional Darger after the game. "They work hard, and they make good choices. They're great basketball players, but beyond that they're great people to work with." Iron Decorli Rosettes & Flowers o Huge Selection-Low Prices! -3332 (sg) 8am - Noon f,'f,te 1 i |