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Show N ^ W S Spanish Fork A8 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2007 Covering what matters most Lady Dons lead early, but fall to Lady Vikings Brent Thurgcod STAFF WRITER Steve Wilson / Spanish Fork News SAY UNCLE: Eric Kitchen looks for back points and a pin in his match against Mountain View's Mitchell Riley at 189 pounds. Don grapplers claw Bruins On the Mat Steve Wilson Looking to even up their region record at two, the Spanish Fork Dons entertained the Mountain View Bruins last week and mauled their guests from Orem with a 40-20 drubbing. Riding the momentum of three straight wins, plus a forfeit in the upper weights, the Dons were able to quickly put enough distance between themselves and the Bruins to secure their second straight Region Four victory. Dave Sorensen opened things up on the night as he chose to move up a weight class and test his grit against an eight-pound heavier Corbin Frost from Mountain View. Showing no signs of intimidation, the gutsy Don battled toe to toe with the Bruin, forcing a tie in the third and final period. With both wrestlers on their feet, and the clock running down, overtime appeared a certainty. However, as often is the case in the sport of kings, things can change in a heartbeat. With only three seconds remaining on the clock, the quick Frost shot a double leg takedown to score two points, end the match, and send the shocked Sorenson back to the bench shaking his head. Junior Kyle Weight took the mat next for the Dons, and seeing his team trailing 3-0, decided he wanted no part of being on the wrong side of a point tally to Mountain View. He quickly made a statement by pinning his opponent barely one minute into the first round of his 171-pound match. Now leading six to three, the Dons turned to Eric Kitchen to widen the gap. The talented Kitchen did not disappoint as he cruised to an easy nine to one major decision over Mitchell Riley at 189 pounds. , The Dons 215 pounder, Brock Wilson, must have liked what he saw, as he wasted little time in pinning the Bruins* Nick Zollinger just one minute into the first round. When senior Brady Miller was awarded a forfeit at heavyweight, the Dons found themselves leading 22 -3 in team points, with some of their stronger wrestlers yet to battle. Perhaps the most impressive efforts of the night for the Dons came at 119 pounds where sophomore Matt Anderson made, a rare varsity appearance and tangled with Mountain View's James Barsh. The young Anderson came out on fire, taking complete control of the match from the opening whistle, eventually shutting the door on Barsh, and ending things with a 17 -2 technical fall victory. The Dons put a wrap on the scoring for the night as sophomore Tom Clark scored an impressive 17-5 major decision win in his match and junior Rodney Cox continued his return to form a close 7-3 decision. With only one region duel left on the docket, the improving Dons are molding themselves into a pretty good wrestling team. With the return of Rodney Cox to the mat and the added experience of a hoard of talented freshmen and sophomores, who have been in and out of the lineup all season long, it should be fun to see how second-year head coach Dave Clark's youngsters perform when the rubber hits the road at both region and state. Individual results: 103 Ryan Pearson lost by pin to Jake Fredrickson 1. rd. 112 - Kaleb Ash worth won by forfeit. 119 - Matt Anderson def James Barsh by TF 17-2. 125 - Kyle Sanford lost to BryceFIorie 18-4 130 - Tom Clark def Carter Roberts 17-5MD. 135 - Rodney Cox def Clay Frost 7-3. 140 - Hadley Thorpe lost to Gabe Raider 13-5. 145 - Brett Grover lost to Dustin Tollman 6-4 in OT 160 - Dave Sorenson lost to Corbin Frost 7-5. 171-Kyle Weight def Will Fonohema by pin 1 st pd. 189 - Eric Kitchen def Mitchell Riley 9-1 MD. 215 - Brock Wilson def Nick Zollinger pin 1st pd. 275 - Brady Miller won by forfeit. Spanish Fork's Lady Don basketball team entered their first region game last Tuesday night, hoping to get back on track after a rocky pre-region record. The Lady Dons entered the region opener against the Pleasant Grove Vikings with a 3-9 record, managing to pick up wins against North Sanpete, Snow Canyon and Jordan High School. The real season, however, began on Tuesday. After all, the pre-season games do not count when it comes to qualifying for the state playoffs, and making it to state was one of the team's goals. Things looked bright for the Dons in the first half. They came out scorching, as they put up 49 points in the first two quarters, while holding the Vikings to 27. The 49 first half-points was more than they scored in all but one of their previous 12 games. The 22-point lead was the largest lead the Dons have enjoyed all season. Spanish Fork junior Jenna Johnson led the first half assault with 20 points, matching her average for the season with two quarters left to play. Something happened at halftime, although the coaches, players and fans were not sure what happened exactly. It almost appeared that the two teams traded jerseys. Despite lighting up the Vikings for 49 first half-points the Dons only managed to score 16 the entire second half. Evidently, Spanish Fork was trying to nurse their 22-point halftime lead, as they began to slow down their offense and did not pressure the Vikings, as they had earlier. By the end of the third quarter. Pleasant Grove had cut the 22-point halftime lead down to eight. The Lady Dons could not get their offense started again, as they managed only five fourth-quarter points. Pleasant Grove, on the other hand, caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 21 points to finish the game with a 73-65 victory. This was Spanish Fork's best offensive output of the season. Johnson, the state's second leading scorer, averaging over 20 points per game, finished with a game high of 30 (including five three-pointers). Spanish Fork senior Tonya Schofield also had a good offensive night, finishing with 12, while junior Aly Tingy added eight. The Lady Dons did not come out to play in the second half with the same intensity that they had at the start. The loss drops the Dons record to 3-10, but more importantly, starts their region record at 0-1. Dons upset Lone Peak: From DONS • A6 after it went in," he said. Duringthefirstquarterjans witnessed a highly aggressive style of play, which carried on throughout the night. Both teams displayed the ability to rebound, force steals and execute ball movement, which led to some clutch shots. One play found the innovative Naulu using his speed to get by the Knights' •big men for a dazzling lefthanded reverse lay-up. At the end of the quarter, the Dons led 15-11. On this night, Spanish Fork needed a strong performance from their big man, Robles, to hang with the combating Knights. Boy, did he deliver. The Utah-bound' QB dominated in all phases of the game, creating havoc David Davis / Spanish Fork News TWIN TOWERS: Jason Steenstra and Devin Nelson form an imposing barrier. by disrupting the flow of the Lone Peak attack. But the modest star athlete was quick to acknowledge that there is no "I" in team. At the 3:50 mark, Lone Peak called time-out leading 26-23. The Knights continued to shoot the ball with confidence, but the feisty Dons answered back. At the end of the half the score was locked at 35 a piece. In the third, Lone Peak gained momentum going up 39-35 and looked to increase their lead until Matt Gardner picked off a pass and drove the length of the court for an easy lay-up. Moments later Griff Robles ignited the crowd with consecutive blocked shots, just like an AK 47. With 1:36 left to play, the Dons trailed 4847. Zac Clayton nailed one of his four treys of the night to give the Dons the lead, but a foul sent the Knights to the line with a chance to tie. The score was once again even at 50 after three quarters of play. The fourth quarter proved almost identical to the previous two quarters of play, as both teams displayed great hustle with timely shots. Matt Gardner hit a crucial three-pointer to take the lead, but the Knights seemed to have an answer throughout the contest. With 13.9 remaining on the clock, the Knights called their final time-out. This game ended up being a nail-biter down to the very end, as the stingy Don defense prevailed. The Scoreboard read 63-63 at the end of regulation. Players from both teams were very physical as the first overtime began. Fans got more than they bargained for as this epic see-saw battle seemed to have no end. It appeared that the Dons would send the Knights home packing, but a charging call gave Lone Peak a chance to put this one to rest. Their final shot was off the mark and the teams played on in round two. At this stage in the game, it was clear that both teams were well-coached and in excellent condition. The second overtime was much like the rest, as this one went down to the wire. This emotional thriller will be remembered as one of the greatest games ever played at Spanish Fork High School. The Dons ended up with four players in double figures. Robles led the team with 20 points. Clayton followed with 16, while Naulu and Steenstra both chipped in 14 a piece. David Davis / Spanish Fork News HUMAN HIGHLIGHT REEL: Jenna Johnson shoots a three in the Payson game. Johnson scored five treys against PG. JV ladies off to cold start in Region play Brent Thurgood STAFF WRITER The Lady Dons JV basketball team did not fair any better than the varsity in their region opener at Pleasant Grove. Spanish Fork was as cold as, the temperatures outside. The Dons failed to score a field goal the entire first quarter, managing only three points on two free throws by junior Lindsee Thurgood and one by Natasha Sanborn. It wasn't until the 4:00 minute mark of the second quarter that Thurgood knocked down the Lady Dons' first field goal. Meanwhile, Pleasant Grove knocked down everything they put up. They started the game with three consecutive three-point baskets and finished the game with 13 : three-point bombs. Spanish Fork, on the other hand, could not get anything to drop. They took the ball to the basket and found themselves at the free j throw line for most of the • game. However, the Lady- ' Dons could just not match * the Vikings' offensive ~ barrage. They trailed by 19 at the half 31-12 and by 26 ' at the end of three. Spanish Fork managed only five field goals the entire game. The Dons' remaining points all came : from the free throw line, as Thurgood went 6-7 r and sophomore Jessica Anderson hit all four of ^ her attempts. The team as a whole, shot 43 throws, • making a respectable* 60 i> percent in the lopsided loss. |