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Show DAVIS Page JANUARY 22, 1986 REFLEX-JOURNA- reflex-journ- Overcomes serious injury Davis sluggish; 54-4- 2 Cats Whip Davis wants to make excuses, and they are not, but without the services of senior guard Brent Meier it appeared as if the Dart basketball team was missing fourth gear last Friday night against the Woods Cross Wildcats. KAYSVILLE-Noone- al DAVIS Jl'ST never stepped it up 2 in a sluggish victory over the 54-4- Cats. But John Robison and the crew victory, no turning them down, which means the Darts improved to 0 in Region Four and overall. will take a 2-- MEIER, AN integral part of this team because of his quickness and passing ability, suffered a leg injury in the closing minutes of the High-lan- d game a week before. Fie sat out the Woods Cross game but was expected to be back in the linkup on Tuesday of this week against Viewmont and eventually against East on Friday night. Junior Brad Richins filled in for the injured Meier on Friday night and sophomore Brian Emery also saw some playing time. These guys conducted a valiant effort in Meier's place, but it just wasn't quite the same according to Meiers other teammates. do best and not try to match physical size against another team. If we try to do that, well get ourselves in trouble. For an example of that, don't think we utilized our quickness as team without him. It was sluggish in the beginning as Davis led only 2 after one quarter. Woods Cross, behind the efforts of sophomore Brett Rogers, w ho led Woods Cross with 12 points, stayed in the ballgame as the result of some gutsy play. Robison saw the game this way. There is no question that that game Friday didnt have the same kind of intensity that the Flighland game had. But 1 dont think the kids worked any less through the week preparing themselves for the game either. 15-1- WE MUST remind ourselves at times that we don't have the physical size that other teams do and therefore we must do the things we Taylor gratefiil to play Craig splittered an elbow in a BY basketball camp after his soph more year and had to have four b pins hold the thing together befo emerging later. Brian went through hip surger during his latter junior high day because of a track-relate- d injur Muscle eventually had to be tie back to his hip bone or perhaps hi brilliant career wouldnt have bee so brilliant. By KEITH DUNCAN 1 well against Woods Cross as we did against Flighland. Our defense may have got better as the game progressed, but it wasn't as strong as it should have been. OUR DUMB fouls didnt help things either. We just had too many of them. But dont take anything away from Woods Cross. Where Davis wasnt. Woods Cross was. The n Wildcats played a tenacious defense and put pressure on nearly every Davis pass. Eventually their hustle led to the Davis squad getting into foul trouble. But all in all, the younger Woods Cross team, made up of two sophomores and three juniors, just didn't have the experience and poise and fell to their second straight defeat in Region Four. man-to-ma- 9 at halfDAVIS DID lead time but couldnt improve on that through the third period as their lead was trimmed to 42-- 3 . The final quarter got a bit ragged itself but Davis maintained their lead and posted their 1th straight victory of the season. This Friday Davis must face one of the most talented teams in the state. East Fligh. They feature the 0 Josh Grant who is being seriously looked at by many college coaches as a major college prospect. This guy is extremely agile for his height. Many times youll see him bringing the ball down the court himself. 31-1- 1 1 SENIOR MIKE Taylor commented, We just never got out of the gates with Brent gone, he said, We just arent the same GRANT IS a blue-chi- p player Well in my eyes, said Robison, have our work cut out preparing for him. But its not only him we'll have to prepare for. East has some other kids too that make them one of the better clubs in the state. East beat Brighton and no one else has been able to do that. LETS JUST say that we have great respect for them. KAYSVILLE - There was a day years ago when the nucleus of seniors which make up the Davis High basketball team got together and made an informal pact that -- someday when they were to grace the hardwoods in the Sam Morgan Fieldhouse, they would leave something behind to remember them by. MY BROTHERS example have always motivated me, ever one of them. I knew that if the could do it, then so could I. 1 loo up a lot to Neil who is one of m. biggest fans. During high school h wasnt very big at all but he didn' let that bother him. Hes the onl member of our family to have wo a state championship in hig school. (Neil won the states dou bles championship in tennis his senior year alongside Rob White-sides)- . FOUR YEARS ago it really happened but those kids had no idea their lasting impression would be as impressive as it has been thus far. Eleven straight victories to start '85-8- 6 off. Wow! Who would have ever guessed it? And who knows where it will end? SUCCESS YES. But easy cess, no. suc- Greg Willard, Brent Meier, Chris Card, Brad Anderson, Mike Taylor and Jon Rees havent exactover the ly lived on easy-streyears. For a few of them in fact, the road to success has had valleys as deep as they can go. As a youngster on the court at home, little Mike had to work a little harder to outquick and his talented brothers. It hasn't been for naught either as today Mike has developed into one of the premier players in the state, injury and all. et out-thin- k AND NO one has climbed in and out of deeper valleys than one of those seniors, Mike Taylor. Mikes valley occurred the summer prior to his sophomore year, perhaps nothing short of a pure nightmare. In a summer basketball camp in Price, Utah, he lost control after an offensive effort and crashed into glass doors at the end of the court. The result was devastating as sharp pieces of glass punctured his left hand which severed several tendons and nerves in the process. PhotosJim Flaskett. Taylor has been one good reason why the Dart basketball team has won 11 of games this season. Hes overcome a bunch of adversity to get where he is today. Jeff Pearson gets a bottoms up view of action in Woods Cross Davis basketball game. It was a scrappy night but Davis did eventual2 win. ly pull out a Woods Cross Spence Hansen and Jerry Jensen look on. and being able to do what he seemingly did best, playing basketball. But the injury originally tore through anticipated dreams like a knife slicing through warm butter. Could life ever be the same? except at Bear Lake, Flaming Gorge, or Fish Lake. Residents under 12 do not need a license. If years of they are between 6 and age. they can only catch one half of the limit. If they are under six, they need to be with a licensed angler, and all fish caught go on the 1 1 1 licensed anglers limit. Corn, hominy, live fish, or game fish parts are illegal as bait anytime of the year. All new fishermen need to be reminded that for many years it has been unlawful for any person to Big contribution Micks family at Clearfield LAYTON - The Hicks family of Clearfield have certainly made their contributions to Clearfield High over the years. It starts first with Coach Ken Hicks who has mentored at that school for over a decade in baseball and football. Then the help came in the form of Brook Hicks who five years back bring Clearfield back into the game and a chance to win. He was purely Mr. Offense as he dumped in all but two of Clearfield's fourth quarter points. Then in the first overtime period' Hicks canned Clearfields only bucket of that period but it was enough as Layton got only one as contributed a great deal to the Falcons basketball, football and baseball fortunes. well. He then fouled out during the second overtime stanza, but by then Hicks had done his damage. BUT NOW it's another Hicks that they call Darrell. Darrell, a senior this year, has certainly had his moments thus far in Clearfield athletics, but none yet has quite matched what he accomplished last Friday night in Layton as he and his teammates combined 8 in double to beat Layton LAYTON was in charge for the most of this Region One battle as they led 0 after 44-3-one quarter, 3 at halftime and 6 entering the final period of play. But the Lancer big men again found themselves getting into foul trouble and eventually the Layton team had four sophomores and a junior competing down the stretch. Clearfield went to 0 in league with the win and ,ayton fell to their second straight loss the closing minutes of the game. 63-5- overtime. 19-1- 31-2- 2-- THE QUICK and talented guard scored 16 of his game-hig- h 31 to help points in the fourth quarter 1 "" i 0-- EVEN COACH John Robison notices that above all else these days. He said recently, Mikes desire to win is extremely high. He knows what it takes to be the best he can be and Ive never seen him discontinue working on the little things. After the injury it was pretty much like being on a leash," said Taylor, Natural things become frustrating to do." BUT NEVER once did you hear him making excuses, another quality of a true winner. He just dug in a little harder. Ill admit that I think of how things could have been if the injury had of never happened, but in a way its been a blessing. Its conditioned me to work harder than Ive ever worked in my life. I JUST had to accept it the way it was and go on from there, but at the same time never stop working to make tomorrow a better day, Slowly some feeling came back into his thumb and two other fingers. He contributed a great deal to the successes of Dart basketball during his sophomore and junior years. 1 54-4- BUT HES never quit working on his game, despite the fact he still has no feeling at all in his ring or pinkee fingers. Only a few folks could put in words how hard Mike has worked to bring his game to the level it is today, said Robison, To me its amazing. Hes made some shots and plays with his left hand that would leave you believing that nothing ever happened. In the closing minutes of the Bonneville game his AND IM glad 1 did work hard because we are a close bunch. Were like pieces of a puzzle that fit in exactly the way they should. Jon (Rees) wasnt with us in junior high, but hes blended in even bet- ter than the center we had in the previous days. Taylor believes wholeheartedly that the clubs involvement in AAU basketball last spring and summer has been a very important part of the teams success so far. We gained confidence in My injury could have competitive spirit stung the competition as he stole two passes and canned some key shots down the stretch. HES ONE kid that has done a terrific job in overcoming an obstacle in life. He didnt allow a negative to overpower him, but instead he overpowered it." When I got hurt in price and the days that followed, thought a little about the pact my teammates and I had made in junior high. I guess that sorta motivated me to come back. I didnt want our dream to die. 1 ah Figure-Skatin- g Champion Holly Cook of Bountiful Utah makes her 2nd appearance at the U.S. National Figure skating Championships next month-h- er first national appearance in the top ranked senior ladies division. skater will THE be honored by the Utah Figure Skating Club during a fund raising exhibition at the Bountiful Recreation Center Ice Arena, 600 North " i outlet. He hopes that his game is on the very top when Davis meets Bountiful and East in their Region Four schedule. Itll have to be a solid team effort to beat Bountiful. Both them and East will be the toughest teams well face all year. BUT WE arent afraid of Bountiful. Theyre human and if we utilize our quickness like we have in the past, then we might beat them, said Taylor. Theres no doubt Taylor loves to win. As he talked about league play, he loved to converse about the opportunity to play the best an the possibilities of beating them. I BELIEVE Mike's competi tiveness has matured this year, said Robison. As a senior he ha blossomed and has assumed a ver key role with our team. Hes n just scoring with us, he does whole lot more than that. After high school is a thing of tl past, Mike still has hopes that h chances of playing on the colle level are still there. he said. PERHAPS EVEN another reason Taylor strove to come back from adversity, was the example set by his older brothers. Most of the Davis fanfare are aware Mike is the younger brother to past Davis High athletic greats like Craig, Neil, Todd and Brian. CRAIG AND Brian were standout basketball players in their day and ironically both had to comeback from serious injuries as well. ITS A great goal, sa Taylor, But it will take everythi Ive got to give it. Taylor doesnt make a big d out of future surgery he has pi ned on his left hand, but hopes that that will improve his chan to utilize the hand even more perhaps make his game ev better. I THINK the thing I reali out of my injury was that it c have been worse. I'm just grat that Im getting a chance to with my friends and do things people never get a chance to champ honored Figure-Skatin- g BOUNTIFUL-Ut- BUT ON most nights you wont find Taylor scoring 45 points, it's simply not in the playbook. Hes an unselfish player who loves to compliment his teammates with crisp passes and rebounds to a streaking been worse. ourselves more than anything else, ). MIKE HUSTLING MIKE was like any other excited prepster prior to the accident; Rill of ambition and an untamed excitement about entering high school AT FIRST he couldnt move his hand at all and doctors said it was purely a wait and see situation. And this wasnt just another left hand. This kid had proven to be a better than average player in junior have more than one daily bag limit fiber of his high and he used of fish in possession at any time. body to beat the every like competition, This includes home storage and using the left hand to tip and refreezers, and means regardless of bound with. Hed learned quite the number of days spent fishing, well how to use that left hand after as well as fish consumed on the his right hand prior to his same day. Fish eaten must be breaking year. grade eighth counted on that day's limit and do To sum it up, without some kind not allow a person to exceed the of decent use of that hand, Taylors daily bag limit. basketball career might as well THE PROCLAMATION is much have had the curtains close. easier to read in that a fisherman simply determines what part of the BUT OH how the kid from Kays-vill- e state he is in and then reads the worked. There were many a rules applying to that area as well painful night that Lowell, his as the general rules for the whole father, would spend as much as state. Members of the armed forces two hours with few breaks to reare encouraged to read the regula- habilitate Mikes hand. There was tion completely as rules differ work, and prayers, then work and greatly from state to state. then another prayer. At no other time in Mikes young life did one of his finest qualities shine through more. That was his earnest desire to not be average and ordinary, but to compete and be the best he could be. COACHES around the state respect his offensive punch, especially those at Highland where Taylor scored 45 points in one night recently. He can put the ball in from the outside or inside. This year his role has been to the inside more because of his height The Darts arent blessed with a lot of size and Mike has done what has to be done in order to better the team as a whole. (6-2- Ice fishing rules WITH THE ice fishing season upon us it is important to remind fishermen of some laws in regards to ice fishing. It is unlawful to cut a hole in ice larger than 12 inches al 150 West, Bountiful, next Thursday evening Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. Holly will perform her short program in her last public appearance prior to leaving for Nationals. Several other competitive skaters will also perform that evening including the peppermint Supremes drill team and the Mini Bees Drill Team. NATIONALS WILL be held in Long Island New York Feb. 9 where Holly will compete with the top U.S. women's figure skaters 2-- including defending U.S. Natiof Champion Tiffany Chin and i ranked Debi Thomas. The National Championsh mark Hollys first Senior La Compeition after she finished at the Junior World Champions last month (Dec.) in Saraje Yugoslavia. She turned in the American finish there. THE PUBLIC is invited to special exhibition. Admission) free and donations will general be accepted. |