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Show I 3 6 i I ) vfr c ' i 1 Journal ii Bulletin Wednesday, Nop, 24, 1982 Its The Parable Of Five Talents At Layton By KEITH DUNCAN Journal Sports T I 1 been a long lime since Layton basketball has been regarded so highly, so early in the year. One man who doesn't mind the popularity happens to be the Lancer's veteran coach, Doug Moon. MOON, WHO IS entering his 12th season as head coach. stated, "It's kinda nice' to be favored like this, it's been a long time. "Of course we realize why people feel the way they do. Experience is one thing weve got. Five or six of our kids had pretty fair amounts of playing time last year and they've improved physically during the past year. BUT THE area of improvement that pleases me the most is the mental improvement. 1 think these kids realize and know they have the makings of a pretty good basketball team. They also know that a lot more hard work might bring some pretty impressive things their way. No one wants to hurt the program either, they have been willing to pay the price from starters to substitutes. Moon continued to report, "I've never had a group like this. Never had a group like this that have put in so much hard work and express such a super attitude as they do, so early in the season. I think they really realize their potential and have been willing to fight twice as hard for what they want. THAT KIND of situation could make it aw' fully tough for Region One opposition. Moon returns Brett Campbell at the center position. At 6-- Brett is the tallest player on the club. Hell have some steady competition from Jeff Passey however. Passey may be the better shooter of the two while Campbell goes to the boards harder. -- The ball gets thrown into the air Friday to start another basketball season. Leading their teams in conquest of the crown are Ryan Smith and Rick Secrist of Davis; Brad Merrill, Jeff Moon and Keith Williams of Layton; and Mike Wallace an(fWark YVilson of Clearfield. 4, MOON ANSWERED, Id tell you right now that wed win the league if we had a big person in our line-uThat's the thing that concerns me more than anything else, is that we don't have the big guy that could help us win consistently. When were playing 7 or 8 kids, its bound to have an effect of us or anyone else. But well work and work at it. With more than a decade of coaching behind him, Moon hasn't had a club like this one which is so advanced so early in the season. Well have some fun, said the veteran head coach. Its not like were going to have to teach basic offense and defense fundamentals so much. Well be getting more into full court presses and other things a lot earlier this season, said Moon with a smile on his face. p. THE KEY figure on Laytons club last year was Keith Williams who is back for his senior year. Even though hell be a key figure again, Moon feels that Williams has blended in ten times better than last season. Keith simply pressed himself too much last season, mostly because he and everyone else knew he was a good player. BUT THIS season he realizes hes got players behind him that are much better ball players who can get the job done. I think Keith will be able to do much more this time around, rather than handling the ball all the time. I think Keith has learned the system and realizes more can be done, said Moon. Williams finished last season as the second leading scorer in Region One with 20 points plus per game. 6-- 6-- Hard Work Is The Crux Of Dart THE DARTS will have Cottrell playing in the middle and backed up two physical juniors in 2 Kevin Tyler and 1 Jeff Sampson. Sophomore Mike Orton at 5 is hopeful for later in 6-- Basketball s Mike Gardner enters his thirteenth season as the head basketball coach at Davis High, hell hope more than ever that 3 his gathering enjoy hard work. There in lies the fun of basketball, said Gardner. BEN HAYES will also see plenty of playing time and might even fight real hard for a start- AS THE VETERAN Dart coach tried to explain last week, hard work will have to be as A 82-8- much as part of Davis basketball this winter as the foul line is to the freethrow. Well have to work harder than any team in the state, he said, "just because of our lack of physical size. ing position. A player that Moon feels will be very important to the club is junior Tom Kidd. Hes the THE GAME is much easier for a guy 7 or to play, said the Davis coach, If weve only got 0 or 2 players going against those type of kids, theyll have to work twice as hard to compete. Gardner painted an example with his center who happens to be 4 senior, Craig Cottrell who has never played varsity basketball before. Hes completely inexperienced, said 6-- 6-- 8 6-- Ogden at CLEARFIELD 6-- 6-- 7:30 p.m. 6-- the season, once he gets ready for varsity action. As Cottrell, Tyler and Sampson man the middle, Gardner will position the rest of the offense in a four-ma- n perimeter set up. TWO OF the inside perimeter people will be 1 senior Rick Secrist and Brian Bock. Secrist is the only player back who lettered off last years state playoff team, but at that he did not play very much. "Secrist will be our mainstay, said Gardner, Hell be our team leader basically because of the experience that hes had. Ricks skills are rapidly improving. TWO JUNIORS in Steve Sargent and Mark Miller will also see plenty of playing time according to Gardner, especially at the inside spots. Along with Smith at a guard spot, Gardner says that Greg Barney, Kent Lyman and Brad Nielson, all senior guards and all not more than will see a lot of playing time. Junior Mike Woodward could be the quickest player on the team but is only ANY ONE of those five guards could start for us, said Gardner. Sophomore Casey Lloyd at 1 1 is extremely skilled on offense but Gardner says his work on defense must improve in order for him to play much varsity ball, but that may not be long off. WITH A state championship under his belt and several very successful seasons behind, Gardner says success breeds enjoyment of the sport. Therefore he says, winning is a very, very important part of things. But the score at the end of the game doesnt always determine who is the winner. It might 5-- Davis at BONNEVILLE only have the experience, but the talent as well, said Hansen. THE NUCLEUS of players that will represent Clearfield this year, have played together for years with no move-in- s to alter or change the line-uAnd just like in recent years, many of them have put in numerous hours during the to perfect their skills. Hansen says they may be small, but that his Falcons will give everyone a solid basketball game, from start to finish." p. Quick and off-seas- Tenacious, Falcons Copy Of Last Year RETURNING as a senior guard will be Mark Wilson, who had the most minutes of varsity playing time of any returner. He along with Steve Flink will be Hansen's starting guards. Flink too, had a little varsity experience last year, but very little to speak of. Wilson came off the bench in two games last year to score 18 points in both contests. One of those performances happened to be against Sky View in which Wilson sank a jumper with no time left to win the game. Both Wilson and Flink are under t. 20-fo- ot six-foo- r ome Friday night, and considering you are a pretty close follower of Clearfield High basketball, dont expect too much of a change from past years. The new gym is a year older, but still in good shape. The floor may have a shiny gloss thanks to the janitor and the names of the players have changed on the rosters next to the scoreboard. SOUNDS much the same, right? Well, it is! BACK TO represent Clearfield for the 3 season are a group of players who have no one Back is a line-u- p of among them taller than guys who love to play Craig Hansens quick, aggressive and tenacious style of defense. And back again is a list of people, who despite their size disadvantage, love to beat bigger people in the rebounding column. Told you it was much the same! 82-8- 6-- 4. AS FAR AS the Region One league goes, thats where the changes have taken place. Bonneville and Roy will not be the dominating forces they were a year ago while Layton, with plenty of experience and talent, will probably be the team to beat. 7:30 p.m. THE FALCONS front line had virtually no varsity experience from last season. Hansen will go with senior Mike Anderson at center Mike Wallace another senior at forward (6-and junior Jeff Parry (6-- at another forward spot. Others that will see some good amounts of playing time will be junior Hal Schofield (6-at both guard and forward, senior Matt Jensen (6-at forward, junior Phil Peterson (6-at forward and junior John Grotzky (6-- at center and forward. (6-4- ), 0, 5-- 9. Hansen expects the league race to be much more close this year with Layton clearly havWithout any question. ing the advantage. Layton should be the team to beat. They not . 5-- 6-- JUNIOR STEVE Pearce could also be another starter. He was perhaps the weak kitten on the club last year. Steve was described by Moon as being one of the best pure shooters hes ever coached. Steve can hit the 18 to 22 foot jumper as well as anyone, said Moon, But Steves main improvement has come with his aggressiveness. Jeff Moon, Dougs son, will get the call start at the other guard position. He was a part-tim- e starter last season and with the confidence that football gave him this year, Jeff could be one of the important plugs in Moons plans. with the newspaper and the standings, but you can also have a successful basketball program and not win all of your games. IF WE CAN develop character, friendships and pride in what were trying to do, this is something these kids couldnt get anywhere else, said Gardner. 0, 6-- time starter last season. Football, without too much question, helped build confidence for Merrill. Brad is going to be a good one before this thing is all over, barring any injury. He can shoot the ball and go to the boards hard. Hes had some good practices so far, said Moon. MOON, JUST like most of the region coaches, feels the league will be more balanced this season with Layton of course being considered one of the favored clubs. But will Layton dominate like Roy and Bonneville did last year? are going to have to put in twice as many hours and do some of the things the bigger players he is going up against arent willing to do. IN BASKETBALL, hard work has to be fun. And I sincerely believe weve got a group of kids who know what hard work it, stated Gardner. Gardner has surrounded himself with some former football stars like Ryan Smith who Gardner states may be one of the hardest working athletes he has ever been associated with. is reported to be playing very Smith, at well in practice sessions and even as a junior d guard on the Davis High may be the club. Hes not gifted with a lot of ability, but he makes up for it in extra hard work, Gardner said. top-rate- PLAYING along side Williams and Campbell will be Brad Merrill, who also was a full- kind that makes things happen. If were having trouble penetrating someones defense, then Tom is the answer. Im not saying he cant shoot, because he can, but he is the one to make things happen, said Moon. Gardner, How is he going to compete against people who have had a full year of varsity time behind them? Well, Craig and others like him THIS P will face Ogden High this at Friday night Clearfield, before going on the road to battle Logan, Ben Lomond, Kearns. The Falcons next home contest will be Dec. 10 when they face Davis High. On Wednesday, Dec. 15, Clearfield will travel to Bountiful to meet the Braves, the defending state champions. Clearfield was one of the only teams in the state to beat the Braves last year. Our key will be in rebounding. If we rebound with the bigger teams, then we will win. If we get killed on the boards, then we will get killed on the scoreboard, said Hansen. WALLACE MAY be the best jumper on the team from his forward position but outside Mike there really isnt another player on the squad with outstanding jumping ability. Well just have to do with hard work and hustle," said Hansen. Weve done it in the past and there isnt any reason why we cant do it again. LINE-U- Vicwmont at LAYTON 7:30 p.m. |