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Show Bryce, Panguitch, Piute i Rack Up Cage Victories ByJohnYardley Bryce Valley High School put together a solid team victory by a score of 65-57 in Wayne County, while Panguitch High showed why they must be considered a potential Region champ by defeating a tough Kanab team 70-61 at Kanab last week. Escalante, meanwhile, scored a bunch of points, but fell to a very good and big Piute team 90-72 in Junction. The Mustangs played a fine game, leading by as many as 20 points as they put away Wayne. Coach Clare Ramsay played most all his square in a game which saw BV maintain control throughout. "We played real well over there," stated Ramsay, "I felt good about the overall play throughout the game." The Mustangs were kind to let the game end as close as it did. George Thompson bombed 25 big points to lead the assault, while Wade Ramsay added 14 and Richard Ott 13. For Wayne, another great game was turned in by Tyce Palmer who scored 25. Bryce Valley takes a bye this week as they prepare for North Sevier and Gunnison the following weekend back-to-back. The Mustangs seem to be steadily improving and I look for them to surprise somebody at the Region tournament in March. At Kanab, Panguitch fought back from an early second quarter six-point deficit to take the half-time lead 28-26. Kanab fans had "blood in their eyes" as it looked like they had the "horses" to play with the Bobcats. However, Panguitch roared back in the third quarter, playing fast break basketball which has been their trademark throughout the year to lead 50-37 at the end of the third quarter. Dale Orton made the play of the game in that third period with a "Jam-slam" a tipped in dunk off a missed fast break shot. Orton had two "stuffs" for the game and big Donny Leach one one which seemed to get Panguitch rolling when they were behind early on. Kanab actually came back within three at 58-55 with 1:34 remaining in the game, but Leach hit a shot to make it 60-55 and Jody Davis canned a couple of pressure shots after coming off the bench to ensure the Panguitch victory. Coach Kay Engelstead had stated earlier that "Kanab always plays us tough" and this proved again to be true. Engelstead and his staff adjusted well to Kanab's complicated defensive alignment which keyed on the Bobcat big men. "They tried just to guard three men and we have more than three who can score," said the jubilant father-son combination of Kay and Ray. Scoring was lead by Dale Orton with 18, Rick Robison, who made some beautiful fast break lay-ups, with 16, Leach with a consistent 12, and Chris Barney added 10. Jody Davis' six points were also very crucial. For Kanab, Wes Huntington hit 18 and Wade Orton 14 both have Garfield lineage. At Piute, Escalante ran up against the league's number two T-Birds. The 90-72 score shows Escalante can score, but Piute's size dominated the offense. Coach Jim Smith, recuperating from a bout with the flu which kept him from action early this week, still feels his team is on the improve after having a "holiday relapse." "After playing Piute last weekend and Panguitch this week, at least everyone else will look smaller," joked Smith. His squad will now play a heavy home schedule with only one away game, at Bryce Valley, the rest of the season. Dirk Durfey had a good game against Piute as the Moquis also continue to get fine play from Dale Alvey, Darin Gates and Burke Hafen. In wrestling, Panguitch took it on the chin 56-6 from Piute on Thursday with Todd Henrie as the only Bobcat winner. Todd did a great job in getting the lone victory for his team. Saturday, at a Piute tournament, Troy Josie beat last year's champ, Ron King, from Piute. King leads the list of several outstanding Piute wrestlers who hail from over in Antimony. Others winning first at the Piute tournament were Danny Fransen and William Hopper. The Panguitch grapplers are tuning up for the Region fans in mid-February. STANDINGS W L Panguitch 6 0 Piute 5 1 Gunnison 4 2 Bryce Valley 3 3 Wayne 2 4 Escalante 1 5 North Sevier 0 6 |
