OCR Text |
Show Wat entinel Guardian of Your Community News WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2009 • A13 y • • . -s.*."'? L: '••••-•: f-ri&_T-' ; f^Tk. VA ( rfn'"^"V "'"""-• Kayla Neves / The Sentinel UP TEMPO: Maple Mountain's Duncan Graham moves the ball upcourt. Graham led the Golden Eagles with 14 points. Maple Mountain falls to Westlake Thunder Jeril B i l l s STAFF W R I T E R Adam Korb / The Sentinel TOUGH GAME: In a very physical game, Orem had the upperhand against Spanish Fork. Tigers manhandle Dons Jeril Bills STAFF W R I T E R For the second year in a row the Spanish Fork High School basketball team was dominated by the Orem Tigers. This time it was a lower-scoring contest than last year's season-opener 80-53 loss at UVU, but the Tigers held the Dons to just 37 points, to win 53-37 at Orem High School last Wednesday, Dec. 9. The leading scorers for the Dons were P.J. Inoke and Travis Still, who had eight points each. Orem held a comfortable lead the entire game after breaking into a 13-^lead at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers held double the Dons' score or more throughout much of the game, something they achieved primarily through stifling defense while, for the most part, managing to stay out of foul trouble, something the Dons struggled to do. Spanish Fork came out looking good, with a Don defender stuffing an Orem player early, and the Dons getting the first points of the game on a Travis Still jumper that put them up 2-0. But Orem quickly responded with a two-point jumper of their own to tie the score, then took the lead some time later — a lead the Tigers never relinquished. Spanish Fork head coach Jeff Cook was less than thrilled with his team's performance. "We just didn't execute any offense whatsoever," said Cook. "The guys have got to become more disciplined offensively, because right now we're not running any offense I credit [Orem] a little bit. They did a good job of disrupting and taking us out of it, but most of the time I think we took ourselves out of it," Cook said. The loss was Spanish Fork's first, after opening the season with three wins. This week the Dons face Murray at home on Wednesday, followed by a visit to Provo High School on Friday to take on last year's 4A state runners-up. You know it's a lowscoring game when the winning team scores 44 points in a blowout. That was exactly what happened at Maple Mountain High School on Tuesday, Dec. 8,2009 as the Golden Eagles dropped to 1-3 on the season with a 44-28 loss to the Westlake Thunder, who came into the contest with a 1-1 record. While the Golden Eagles as a team struggled to score, senior Duncan Graham did record 14 points in the game. Meanwhile, the Maple Mountain defense, who overall put out a solid effort, struggled to contain athletic Westlake sophomore guard John Ursua, who put up a gamehigh 17 points. The Golden Eagles held their own in the first quarter, as Zach Johnson and Duncan Graham each hit three-pointers, helping the Golden Eagles break out to an early 8-4 lead before the Thunder narrowed it to 8-7 by quarters' end. But Maple Mountain's first quarter fire soon turned to ice. The Golden Eagles went scoreless in the second quarter to trail 19-8 at the half. Maple Mountain's ball-handlers seemed flustered against a taller Westlake team, often driving inside with frantic fury into two or more defenders, only to get stuffed while going up for the shot. And despite their first-quarter three-point shooting success, Maple Mountain only made four field goals in all the rest of the game, and no more treys, despite various attempts. By the end of the third quarter, the Golden Eagles had just 14 points. Fortunately, a 14-point fourth quarter effort, aided mainly by free throws, made Maple Mountain's.scoring effort- I o o k - a 4 i t t e m o r e ^ spectabie. : • '•'•'•' ! ^ This week Maple Mountain plays back-toback Thursday and Friday games, taking on Provo at home on Dec. 17 before traveling to Hurricane to take on Parovvan one week before Christmas in the TotalUtahPreps.com Tournament. Lady Skyhawks OPTIONS: Maple Mountain's KJ Hall looks for an open passing lane around a Westlake defender. SAM'S PREP OF THE WEEK Erin Redd • Senior Christian TJiompson / The Sentinel PRE-SEASON WIN: The SHHS girls basketball team took on the Westlake Thunder Thursday, Dec. 10 in Salem. The close first-half contest finished with Salem up by two, 21-19. But the Skyhawks managed to gradually pull away, posting an 11-point margin in their 47-36 win over the first-year school. Pictured above, Salem center Lyssa Hanks goes for a block against Westlake. 1 • Basketball • Center The daughter of Bryan and Annette Redd, Erin Redd led the Lady Dons this past week in their wins over Mountain View and North Sanpete. Against the Bruins, Redd had 19 points and 11 rebounds. She also had a key assist to Shea Johnson at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. Against the Hawks, Redd scored 14 points and had five rebounds. She said the team has been progressing well and is getting ready to make a statement in region play. the Oil Change f f l 552 N. Main • 798-787% |