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Show ports WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2008 • B l Covering what matters most Dons take on ruins Chad Vest STAFF WRITER The Spanish Fork boys1 basketball team hit the road Friday, Dec. 5 in preseason action and took on the Mountain View Bruins. This game was another learning experience for this year's young team, but there is plenty to build upon. Both teams played manto-man defense where fans saw the home team dominate early in the paint with their two big men crashing the boards and kissing many off the glass. After trailing by 14 at intermission, SF opted to switch to a zone defense to give themselves an opportunity to pull off the comeback. They collapsed on the inside and tried to make the Bruins beat them with the long ball and perimeter shots. This plan kept the Dons within striking distance as they cut the Bruin lead to 12 throughout the third period. But the home team adjusted to the Dons' swarming defense and responded with steals and some huge trey balls to run away with this one. It was a valiant effort by SF. They never gave up, but fell to Mountain View 82-66 without one lead change. Both teams started out sloppy to begin with as several turnovers resulted before the first bucket of the night. However, moments later, the Bruins began to *att iafcr 4 A SPORTS KWftt Of IK WA heat up inside with several deuces by their big men. The size difference played to their favor and they exploited the Dons1 weakness. Trailing 9-4, sophomore Travis Still countered with a strong move inside to climb within three, but the home team answered back with a 10-0 run and the Dons trailed 22-13 to end the first. Mountain View went up 39-23 on a play which saw their ball-handler stuck inside the paint for a good four seconds, which led to another deuce. Bailey became somewhat frustrated with the no call and wanted an explanation. But the referee didifl take to him kindly. Instead, he slapped on a technical foul which helped the Bruins maintain their comfortable cushion lead by double digits. With just over a minute until half. Mountain View had the ball and stalled at mid-court for nearly a minute. Finally their point guard dribbled right before lofting a beautiful alley-oop pass to his 6'8" center, Scott Moake, who threw it down with ease. It was a bigtime play and momentum shift and the Bruin faithful erupted. But with three seconds left until intermission, Gavin Hales took the inbound pass. The sharp- See DONS• B10 Kori Pritchett / Spanish Fork News TAKING THE BAIT: Spanish Fork's Gavin Hales fools a Bruin with a fake before attempting a trey. Hales' three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Dons momentum going into halftime. Grapplers start with win vs. Orem Steve Taylor STAFF WRITER Mike Olsen / Spanish Fork News TOP FINISHER: Alicia Pulido took third place in both the 500 yard freestyle and the 200 yard individual medley. H20 Dons prove mettle at invitationals Mike Olsen STAFF W R I T E R The SFHS H20 Dons have just completed a grueling few weeks of competition against competitors both big and small. The Utah County Invitational, the Thanksgiving Invi- tational held in Bountiful, and the Cedar City Invitational meets all had more than 400 swimmers. With their three invitational meets behind them, the SFHS swim team has shown they can hold their own against much larger teams. At the Cedar City Invitational held on Dec. 5-6, SFHS swimmer Bonny Dowling took home two first place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle and 100yard butterfly, and Alicia Pulido netted two third place finishes for her 500 yard freestyle and the 200 yard IM. Of the 14 teams at the Cedar City meet, the girls placed fifth and the boys placed ninth. The SFHS H20 Dons team combined to take eighth place overall. See SWIMMING* B10 The Salem Hills Skyhawks started their wrestling program off with a win. They faced the Orem Tigers, at home, on Thursday, Dec. 4. In the first match in their program's history, the Skyhawks defeated Orem, 45-33. Coach TJ Brindley has tempered expectations for his young team, but if the Skyhawks continue the w a y they started, he may have to rethink the team'sgoals. Coach Brindley noticed room for improvement, but overall, he was happy with his team's performance. "I'm very pleased with our effort; every one of those kids went out there and gave their best effort," he said. "We did make some mistakes that inexperienced wrestlers make, but we will work to correct those mistakes." Several Skyhawk wrestlers picked up individual wins, helping their team to victory. The individual winners were: Chase Wilson, Austin Zobell, Jake Frank, Jake Wilson. Nathan Peck, Alex Gibb, Derek Sorensen and Mason Morganson. Considering the Skyhawks youth, and their inexperience versus a team like Orem, things look good. "We are a young team. We have three freshman wrestling varsity, along with six sophomores. I have already seen a lot of improvem e nt since w e started practice, and I am very optimistic that we will continue to improve," said Brindley. Building a program from scratch is a tough task, and most teams will struggle for at least a couple of years, so getting a victory right off the bat is great for the Skyhawk's confidence. While no one expects a state championship, or for that matter a region championship, the fact the Skyhawks beat an experienced team like Orem makes the future look bright. |