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Show 6A Emery County Progress Wednesday, November JJll 26, J986 UM U season 86 to Young Spartans open least one as a small forward. Nelson also said that the guards in By LARRY W. DAVIS Progress tdltor c This Is the time of year when Emery basketball coach James Nelson can be found wandering around the school, mumbling to himself. Its the time of year when his waistline begins to recede. Its the time of year, too, when his family begins to wonder what It did to deserve a life with a madman five months out of each year. True, things arent really like that, but coach Nelson does go through a metamorphasis during the basketball season, and those changes are already beginning to surface as the Spartans open the 1986-8- 7 campaign this week. Emery will have a generally young team this season with only three seniors listed on the roster. However, the coach believes that the seniors are all quality players, and he points out that most of the juniors have a great deal of varsity experience. Exactly how the youth and experience will come together will be known to some extent this weekend when the Spartans participate in the Wasatch Tournament in Heber City. Emery will play Delta at 6 p.m. Friday and will play either Wasatch or Juab at 6 or 8 p.m. on Saturday in the tournament. Emery does not have a senior guard on the team, but coach Nelson said that the backcourt may be the. teams strongest point. Returning starter Jeff Cisneros will team with fellow juniors Steven Jorgensen and Dell Stilson to form one of the best guardlines in 2A , , ,1 hi ; 3 & six-thre- e. Huggins was a starter on Emerys JV team last year where he was known for his defensive play. Also, the coach said that he is one of the better rebounders on the team. One of the surprises on the team this year is the emergence of junior forward Scott Stilson who at 6 foot 2 inches appears to be the most improved player on He has the Emery team. turned into a physical-typ- e player, Nelson said. He used to be pretty much an outside player, but this year he is beginning to go inside as well. He can give us a lot of options. Another junior, 6 foot one inch Joel Wilson, is in the same style as Jewkes. lie is a rugged inside player who can hit the outside jumper. Coach Nelson said that he has one of the highest shooting percentages on the team and will be counted on Contemplating the upcoming basketball season is coach James Nelson as he watches the Spartans during a recent scrimmage. excellent shooters heavily for rebounding. Devin Arnold, another junior who stands 6 feet one inch, is described by Nelson as having proved and matured. Cisneros and Stilson, These guys are very quick, ' will also open up Emerys offense because of the shot and fast break possibilities. At forward, Emery has size and experience but not a lot of height. Seniors Wade Jewkes and Bobby Huggins each lettered last season while Jewkes was a part-tim- e starter. At 6 foot 3 inches, Jewkes has average height, but he is a He plays big hard," Nelson said, and he has a surprisingly good outside shot. Wade will be counted on heavily for a rugged Inside game." t at 6 feet, and Jorgensen, at 6 feet one inch, give Emery good size in the backcourt as well and have tempted the coach to use all three at the same time, using at and and certainly among the top 10 guards in 2A, Nelson said, adding that each had varsity experience last season and that each has im ballhandlers, tremendous quickness, strength, and the ability to drive to the hoop. He is also a rugged inside player, according to the coach. Returning to the center and position after starting there 4 6 foot is a at forward year ago Well be inch Davin Stilson. counting on Davin a lot for rebounding and defensive play. We dont have a real tall team, averaging about 8 feet, so Davin will have to perform well In the middle," the coach said. coming off surgery on his knee and is a bit hampered, but the coach said he is coming along well. Stilson finished the season last year with a nine points per game scoring average, highest among the returning lettermen. He also had a 7.1 rebounding average which led the team in Stilson is 1985-8- 6. Coach Nelson is also very high his sophomores, most of whom will make up the heart of the junior varsity team. Six foot 4 inch Wes Fish and 6 foot 2 inch Lynn Tuttle will play the center position. "Wes has a good touch on the ball, and Lynn is developing very fast, Nelson said. Sophomore guards include Blake Butler, 6 feet, Todd Huntington, 5 feet 11 inches, and Brandon Sanchez, 5 feet 7 inches. The coach said that Huntington has been participating in Spartan basketball camps since he was in eighth grade and has learned the Emery system. He calls all three sophomore guards good ball handlers and excellent outside shooters. Also at guard is Mark Justice who may also see some time at forward. Another sophomore forward is Travis Wakefield who may see time at guard. While Nelson may be confident with his own team, he on knows that all the teams in Region 10 will be tough tills year. He said very few seniors departed region teams at the end of last season. Nelson said that North Sanpete, Manti, South Sevier and Millard all have the heart of their teams back and in some cases have as many as four starters returning. Juab has some experience as well as a 6 foot 8 inch center and a new coach while Richfield always manages to come up with a good team. The coach lists South Sevier, Richfield, North Sanpete, Manti, and Juab as the leagues best although he believes that Emery is also a contender for region honors. It could go in any direction," he said of the league. This season, the region tournament will be held Feb. 26, 29 27, and will include eight teams. Of those eight, just four will advance to the state tournament. Emery did not qualify for state last year. Prior to the tournament at Wasatch next week, the Emery JV will host Tabiona on Nov. 26. The JV is being coached by Todd Jeffs who replaces Dean Nelson who is retiring from that position. Jeffs has been an assistant in the Emery program for several years. The JV will also be part of the Wasatch tournament. The coach said that the junior varsity teams from Emery, Delta, Juab and Wasatch will compete in a separate gym at the same time the varsity teams play. Emerys first home game will be Dec. 12 when Delta comes to Castle Dale. Prior to that, Emery will play at Richfield on Dec. 6 and at Carbon on Dec. 9. Bulldogs fall twice to Pirates By LARRY W. DAVIS Progress editor San Rafael Bulldogs lost to the Mont Harmon Pirates in junior high wrestling last week in Ferron, 61-2- 1. Coach Carl Niebergall said that all of his wrestlers did a good job and tried hard but only four were able to get wins. In the match, Travis Turner won by a decision while Justin Snow pinned his opponent in the match. Dusty VanBuren also got a pin in the 116-ldivision while John Millward pinned his man in the 75-l- b. 95-l- b. b. 155-l- b. match. In volleyball, the San Rafael girls opened against Mont Harmon with a win, but the visitors came back to win the next two games to win the match. Once San Rafael's John Millward, above, got his Mont Harmon opponent in this position during a recent junior high wrestling match, it was just a matter of time before the match would end. Millward got a pin in this 155-lmatch. At Playing for San Rafael this season are Kacie Anderson, Deana Bluemel, By LARRY W. DAVIS Progress editor the American Basketball Association and its revolutionary blue basketball? Remember those great teams like the Utah Stars, the Kentucky Colonels, and the San Diego Conquistadors? When the league folded a dozen years ago, there was little left behind except for a lot of d unpaid bills and patriotic basketballs. But the league did give America the New Jersey Nets, the Denver Nuggets, and the Indiana Pacers, and it did give basketball the shot. While the ABA is gone, the shot has remained. The NBA adopted the shot several years ago and then college conferences began experimenting with it over the last five years. Now it has officially been adopted by the NCAA and will be used by all teams affiliated with that moth-balle- organization. has trickled down to the it is being utilized by where ranks school high both boys and girls teams on all levels in Utah. And now the a - b. OlOPX- - Remember right, bumping the ball to the front row in junior high volleyball action last week against Mont Harmon is San Rafael's Corine Pugmire. The Lady Bulldogs lost in pt.ototbvsh.nn.tc di. three games. Tiffany Conover, Ted Ann Farmer, Candice Hone, Lisa Jensen, Kari Johansen, Sheryl Lake, Pam Mecham, Michelle Petty, Corine Pugmire and Cindy Snow. A look at the new The Uian High School Activities Association adopted the change at the end of last season, so this season is going to be very interesting as we see the effects of this new rule. Coach James Nelson of the Emery Spartans wasted no time expressing his feelings on the shot. Iast week at the scrimmage, he told fans that he doesnt oppose the shot, but he feels that the line needs to be further back. It is currently 19 feet 9 inches from the hoop. It is conceivable, he told me last week, that a player with good leaping ability could be off on a break, leave his feet just before crossing the line, go up in the air toward the basket and have an easy finger roll for a basket. The could be a layup. Weve seen Docter J do just that in the NBA. In fact, he has proven that a player can leave his feet from the top of the key and even dunk the basketball. Some may believe that anyone who can dunk a ball from midcourt should be given three points for his efforts, but most coaches and players maintain that the shot should be low percentage shots, coming from great distances. meet-the-tea- m rule 3-po- int Although the line, which comes just at the top the foul shooting circle, is not what could be considered a difficult distance from the basket, it is farther than some distances used in the past. Many college leagues have used a line which comes inside the circle. That shot rather routine. would make a of foul-shooti- In fact, Nelson said that the 19 feet 9 inch distance is not extraordinary. Its fairly common to have kids on a high school team that can hit with consistency from that distance, he said. However, he said that he is not imshots in plementing plays designed for the Spartan offense. Were just saying that if the shot is there, take it. The basketball season was ushered in at Emery last week when the girls hosted Wasatch shot attempt came in Academy. The first the first period when foreign exchange student Olga Freire launched one from the top of the key. The ball swished through the net as she in the made history by hitting the first She and two hit was later another gym. Spartan distance. for three from While the distance may be subject to con troversy, most agree that having a shot basketball will create a more exciting, high scoring game. Teams which have fallen behind can often come back quickly with the as teams with big leads tend to become conservative. Also, having the shot might open up the inside game as teams begin to adjust defenses to perimeter shooting teams. However, coach Nelson also said that he is not planning any special defense for the shot. If a kid hits three or four from that range then well adjust, but it wont necessarily be a part of our game in high school plan. Basketball fans in Utah have become very familiar with the shot in recent years because of the presence of the Utah Jazz and the NBA. That interest has been increased even more because of the outside shooting ability of guard Darrell Griffith who has been a leader in scoring. Perhaps the NBA is setting the standards for the high school game in Utah. Im wondering if one day we will see a clock in high school, a six personal foul rule, 12 minute quarters and an 82 game schedule. nd |