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Show •N E W S- Spanish Fork B10 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2008 Covering what matters most Andrew Wilson / Spanish Fork News WORKING THE DEFENSE: Left, Jessie Anderson fires a no-look pass. Above, Natasha Sanborn works to get a pass to the inside post. Lady Dons battle Vikings for third place crowd in the first quarter with pinpoint passing and balanced scoring. STAFF WRITER The interior defense was aggresLast Friday was a big game for sive. SF shut down the talented Vithe Lady Dons as they hosted the king post players, denying the paint. Lady Vikings. Both teams came into The Lady Dons had balanced scorthe evening tied for third in a very ing in the first quarter, led by Jessie tight Region IV race. The winner Anderson, sinking a big three at the would have the inside track toward buzzer. SF led 9-7. the state tournament. The Vikings ran a nice give and go The Spanish Fork Band now offense in the second quarter, scoring known as the "Sixth Man" fired up often from the block. The Dons were the crowd. The National Anthem not recognizing or rotating on defense was sung in grand fashion by Briana and PG out-scored SF 15-6 in the secCrook, Kassie Crook and Kamille ond quarter. Bird. If you have not come to Spanish The Lady Dons committed Fork basketball on Friday night, you five turnovers and the Vikings are missing great talent capitalized. Aly Tingey sank two : The Lady Dons fired up the three balls for the only second Bryan Redd quarter Dons Scoring. The Lady Dons trailed the Vikings 22-15 at the end of two quarters. The battle was even and aggressive in the third quarter. Jenna Johnson scored five quick points and Erin Redd scored six in the paint. The Lady Dons rebounded tough, shutting down the PG post. The Vikings guards took control with strong drives and running jump shots. The third quarter ended as the Dons out-scored the Vikings 11-10. The Lady Dons created turnovers, but could not capitalize. The Vikings led 32-26 ending the third quarter. The fourth,-, quarter was entertaining and full of high energy, as SF and PG battled strong. The Lady Dons had only three turnovers in the second half, but missed many open scoring opportunities. The Lady Dons relied on three pointers in the fourth quarter. Johnson, Tingey and Anderson each scored a trey, but time ran out on the Dons' late comeback. The Vikings scored 10 in the quarter, six from the free-throw line. The Vikings won 42-35. The loss sticks the Lady Dons in forth place. The SF girls will have three games to control their own destiny. The Lady Dons need to be in the top four to qualify for the state tournament. Leading Dons scorer was Aly Tingey 11, Jenna Johnson 10, Erin Redd 8 and Jessie Anderson 6. The Lady Dons had six assists (Anderson 3), 22 rebounds (Redd 8), six steals and five blocked shots (Redd). The Dons took care of the ball and committed only eight turnovers. "We can't dwell on this loss and we control our own destiny," said Coach Johnson. "We played great defense and shut down their leading scorer. Our team took care of the ball. We need better team rebounding and we need to convert the easy shots." The Lady Dons encourage everyone to support the team in their last home game and Senior Night on Friday, Feb. 8 as they host the Lehi Pioneers at 5:15 pm. The Lady Dons are 3-4 in region play. Fast-pitch softball: THE HUH From FAST-PITCH • B l MORTGAGE •^3H COMPANY Is merging with SECURITY HOME MORTGAGE To provide you with • More competitive rates • Better service • Faster closings • More streamline The same friendly faces •Jon D.Christensen,;:';,;-.(,. •Susan Knight •ClayCushing Come see us at our new location 735 North Main Spanish Fork (801)798-1581 (801)764-0111 SECURITY HOME MORTGAGE www.securityhomemortgage.com Calif., and in Salt Lake City. The Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista is used by all the Olympic softball teams. The young men, Robbie Black, Michael Hayes, Tyson Lambourne, Gentry Mitchell and Chris Norris, have been to four camps over the last two years. The camps are used by the USA coaching staff and the selection committee to evaluate players. The training team started with 25 players from all over the United States. That number was cut . down to 22 for the last two camps which were held in January of this year. The camps were run by the coaching staff for the Junior Men's team, whichiscomprised of Tim Lyon of West Jordan, Gary Mullican of Yorba Linda, , Calif, and Scott Standerfer of • Charleston, 111. Once the last ' camp was finished on Jan. 26, ' 2008, the coaching staff turned . in their recommendations to the selection committee and [ started playing the waiting , game. The selection committee, comprised of coaches and : ex-players from around the 7 country, then had the task of , selecting 17 players and two '• alternates for this year's team, • which will compete in the •_ ISF World Championships in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada ', in June. Several young men from \ iftah have been selected to be •- on the Junior Men's teams in the past, and with five participants from Utah on the training team this time around, chances were pretty good that once again a young man would represent Utah on the team. Imagine the joy of Steve Black when he was told that all five of the boys from Utah .were selected for the team. I "I was worried that some of the boys from Utah would not make the team," Black said, "because the selection committee was really putting pressure on head coach, Steve Lyon, to get kids from their states on the team." Four of the boys are from Spanish Fork and the other is from Salem. Utah has never had more than one young man make the team, so it is quite an accomplishment for roughly one-third of this year's team to be made up of boys from our community. "The thing I was most afraid of is that one or two of us would not make it and it would be tough to deal with," "When you are able to put that USA uniform on and are wearing the red, white and blue it is something that is special and really brings out the pride in each player." — Michael Hayes said Chris Norris, "but with all of us making the team it is going to be even more special." Not only have these boys been playing softball together for the past couple of years, they have also played city and accelerated league baseball on various teams with each other since they were 11 years old. "Having five guys on the team that know each other so well will help because we are able to keep each other straight and we know what makes each other tick," said Gentry Mitchell. Both Tyson Lambourne and Robbie Black were extremely excited, because they worked their tails off to make it to the final selection camp, and felt like no one there worked harder. "The other guys who made the team from South Dakota and Minnesota have been playing fast pitch since the age of four," said Lambourne. "For us Utah guys to make the team shows how much work we have been able to get done in the past few years." Being able to represent the USA against other countries is the thing the Michael Hayes is most excited about. "When you are able to put that USA uniform on and are wearing the red, white and blue, it is something that is special and really brings out the pride in each player," said Hayes. "I think this is the best group we have ever put together for the Junior Men's program," said head coach Tim Lyon. "This team is as prepared as any team we have ever sent to the World Championship and now it's up to them. We tell the athletes it's how hard they work between now and June that will dictate whether they are on the rnedal stand." More information about the USA team and the official press release can be found at the USA Teams' official website, www.usasoftball. com. Information on the ISF can be found at their site, www.internationalsoftball. com. The Spanish Fork News will follow the team all the way through the tournament and will provide updates to keep our readers posted on their progress. 4 |
