Show B2 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Wednesday March 19 2003 2002-0- 3 ALL VALLEY GIRLS Hard work pays off for Pirate guard By Shawn Harrison sports editor DAYTON — Usually it’s not easy choosing a player of the year This year was no exception Sure there are those rare seasons when one player rises above the rest and is a clear-c- ut choice This was not one of than when it came to girls basketball The only school to qualify for die state playoffs was Sky View The Bobcats had several potential candidates like Michelle Gaik and Trisha Car-do- n but were such a group it was hard to compare statistics against some other valley players So then it became an argument of who meant the most to their respective team Preston’s Beth Maseuli was arguably the best player in the valley but a knee injury ental her senior season after just five games Maseuli starter and had been a four-yehonors every year earned Logan always produces some outstanding players and this year was no exception with Lisa Hansen and Candace Miller Mountain Crest’s Jessica Zilles was in the running for a while also But when it came down to the top player this season West Side’s Candace Buttars gets the nod as The Herald Journal Player of the Year The junior played four dif-ferent positions for the Pirates and meant more to her team than any of the other candidates “She would rather play a two but can play all of the positions” West Side coach Jean Paskins said “She played where we needed her” Wherever she played you could bet she would score points The from Weston easily led the in scoring with 1S9 points a valley How important was she to the game 7-Pirates? She led the team in games scoring in “Candace is one of those players that works on her own puts in the extra time and has the extra desire” Paskins said “A team is fortunate if you have someone like that” The junior was called upon tq “step up” this year with four seniors having departed It also helped that she could “jump like a gazelle” Paskins said “I made a goal to average at least IS (points) a game” said Buttars who is very “Some games I really concentrated on my rebounding” Buttars said “Those were a few of the games my points went down but my rebounds went up I was glad about that” Sort of like her effort in a game against Grace where she grabbed 18 rebounds and scored just eight points There were only two games this year that she didn't reach double figures in scoring Buttars averaged 74 rebounds a game third best in the valley But her fondest memory the past season was actually two games in which the Pirates lost They were well-balanc- ed ar ey -- 19-of-- 22 goal-orient- Mfchelte ed Clark a£ $V center i&fiSSSKSSfM f&AmleHansen SV or guard m Jessica Zilles MC srv guard ft Diwit 8tavans4tarald Journal West Side junior Candace against county rival Preston “I love to play against Beth (Maseuli) she is the best competition around” Buttars explained “We’re good friends I think she makes me play better” Buttars did score 34 points and pulled down 19 rebounds in two games against Preston Paskins recalled two years ago a confident sophomore volunteering to guard Maseuli when nobody wanted to If there is an area that Buttars needs to work on it’s defense She admits that and Paskins nods That will give her something to work on this summer She wants to help the Pirates get back to the state tournament next year “It’s never fun to lose nobody likes to lose” Buttars said “But if you love the game you keep playing” And die certainly loves the game A three-spo- rt star at West Side Buttars wasted no time at all listing basketball as ha favorite She was also named to the volleyball team and has done well at state in track Buttars learned from two of the best as a sophomore playing with Jill and Joni Hatch This year she took oyer and even wore Joni’s No 22 But not because she was trying to live up to one of the Hatch twins “My favorite professional player wears that number — Sheryl Swoopes” Buttars explained “I like the way she plays She plays aggressive and is one of the best shooters in my opinion” You could say that Buttars has pat- all-vall- ey Cbetele Cartwright Jr MCfcenter f Buttars-le-d the valley in scoring and earned player of the year accolades temed her game a bit after the Houston Comets star She is aggressive and has worked extremely hard to perfect her shot “My freshman year I had an awful shot” Buttars said with a laugh “A trainer in South Jordan helped me out with that It was hard to fix but so worth it” It also helps that her father Ray Buttars is the assistant coach for the girls at West Side “He knows more about my shot than I do” Buttars said “He can watch it and tell me exactly what I’m doing wrong as can coach Pasting” Hard work is nothing hew to But- tars She lives on a farm where she drives a tractor to earn money for basketball camps Last summer she spent an hour every day in the West Side gym working on her game usually coming in early in the morning before going to work on the farm It paid Off her strengths are handling the ball and shorting “I feel comfortable handling die ball” Buttars said “It’s lots of hours in the gym I spent so many hours in the gym last summer” Buttars averaged two steals 11 assists and blocked 10 shots on the season She also knocked down 26 second-be- st in the valley In the future she will be a marked player She kind of already was this year after the first few games but was still able to put up big numbers “She can hurt a team in a lot of different ways” Paskins said “She just needs to leant to trust in her teammates and in her abilities Once she puts her mind to it I don’t have to worry” It’s the opponents that need to FIRST TEAM Michelle Gaik Sky View cotter A team full of shorties was led by this Bobcat Clark had to play taller than her 9 height and did every night she took to the hardwood “Because of ha size Michelle had to play talla than she was” SV 3-- Jessica Parkersr P forward! a Canon 4 5V guard soph SV guard v coach Amanie Crosbie said “She was so quick and was difficult for some players to keep up with” The senior especially came up big at the state tournament where she scored 31 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in two games For die year Gaik averaged 10 points Sl rebounds and 11 steals a game on a team that was in the scoring department “She hurt ha ankle twice but you would neva know it because she wanted to be out there” Crosbie sajd “Michelle is just so quick riron and thinks so wellrIf she was 4 thrf$ inches talla she would be playing at the next level” Clark who honorable mention last yea may still find a place to play next yea Crosbie is working on helping her find a junior college Lisa Hansen Logan center Anotha undersized post playa was this Grizzly Hansen who was also 9 recorded a numba of on the yea She was tire most consistent Logan playa “I basically had three players we had to really rely on and Lisa was the most important one” Logan coach Bryant McKay said “Playing inside she had to play bigga than what she was” The senior averaged 124 points and 74 rebounds a game Hansen reached double figures in scoring in Grizzly games and shot 44 from the field percent “She was always around die basket” McKay said “But she also has range Lisa can shoot from 13 feet Candace Miller Logjan forward A simila theme continues with this Grizzly At 7 Milter found herself against talla opponents but wasn't afraid to battle The slenda senior was deceptive “She came up with a numba of big plays for us” McKay said “She is very well-balanc- ed all-vall- ey 3-- double-- doubles 15-of-- 21 5-- quick and was very valuable to us” Milter came on strong down the stretch and finished die yea averaging 93 points and 67 boards pa game “Candace played with ha whole heart” McKay said “I don’t know what we would have done without ha” Jessica Zilles Mtn Crest guard A for playa of foe yea fiont-ruhn- ra a one pant this season Zilles ted the Mustangs in sooting and was second in the valley with 127 points a game “Jess did a lot for us because we relied on ha to run the offense” MC coach Art Erickson said “She was our lone returning starter so we needed ha experience” The 6 senior took ova games for stretches She did more than just points for MC averaging 56 rebounds 26 steals and 19 assists an outing Zilles also shot 60 percent from the foul line 5-- “Jessica waked extremely hard and kept a positive attitude” Erickson sard “She was the key to us winning games” Amie Hansen Sky View guard Hansen normally handled the ball the Bobcats but was not afraid to pull the trigger if left open In fact the senior averaged 91 points a game and knocked down 24 fa fourth best in valley ‘IJhe grew into a scorer" Crosbie said “We didn’t need ha to score as a junia but she proved she can this yea when needed She handled us and had a knack for the ball pushing it when possible” It was ha play on defense that drew the most praise from the coach The senia averaged 27 steals a game “Site was so good on defense” Crosbie said “Amie was just a great fa teamleada” Hansen also averaged 17 assists and 23 rebounds a game SECONDTEAM Cbelste Cartwright MC center The tallest honoree ted tire valley in rebounding The 1 junia pulled down a whopping 162 rebounds a 6-- game' See PACK on B3 East HYRUM — Rain snow sleet or hail doesn’t stop mail carriers Apparently it doesn’t stop Mountain Crest's baseball team eitha White the Mustangs didn’t have to contend with sleet or hail Tuesday afternoon they had plenty of snow and rain to deal with as well as a pack of Leopards Three Mountain Crest pitchers combined fa a two-hittwhite Tom Holland went with two runs scored and an RBI as the Mustangs pounded East 10-- 2 at The Yard “I drought it was a pretty good game all the way around” Mountain Got coach Stephen Hansen said “With die weather like it was especially I thought they came out and played pretty good” The contest lasted a little muter hours and die moisture — snow at first then rain — neva let up er EHLuceraHerald Journal Mountain Crest's Ryan Piggott slides safely into second after East's second baseman Daniel BlaJdey dropped the bail during their game Tuesday afternoon in Hyrum best” Mountain Qnest on (2--0) got iL Caning into the game the Leopards had scored 10 runs on the ) saute amount of hits in their season-open-a against Tlmpanogos on March 10 Howeva the three Mustang hurlen — starter Nick Elia-so-n along with reserves Jorgensen and Derek Lyle — kept East in check Daniel Blakley and Stuart Bohling had the only hits for the Leopards — both singles one in the third and anotha in the sixth Neitha resulted in a run though East’s runs came courtesy of free passes (0-2- r-4 non-regi- two-and-a-h- Jorgensen said “You just gotta get wanned up pretty good and keep yourself warm by running and stuff “And just hope for tire i ' SceMConB4 |