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Show PCHS Loses Heartbreaker Against Altamont, Faces Wildcats Friday It's the kind of ending that coaches hope never fiappen, but it happened to the Park City Miners Friday night in Altamont. Park City is ahead by two points, 54-52. An Altamont player is standing at the foul line, preparing to shoot two free throws, hoping to tie the game and send it into overtime. There are ten seconds left in the game. The first free throw swishes through the net, 54-53. Coach Bruce Reid immediately im-mediately calls time out in order to force the Altamont player to think more about his second vital free throw and also to review strategy with his Miners. The second free throw is missed. The Miners leap for the rebound, but fail to gain control of the ball which ends up in the hands of an Altamont player; he shoots and makes a basket, putting the Longhorns ahead by one point, 55-54, with five seconds left in the game. Miner Steve Toly throws a desperation shot down court, but the Miners foul Altamont in the process. And Altamont shoots two more successful free throws to win the game, 57-54. "It was a heart-breaking ending," said Coach Reid. "It's the first time that one of my teams has lost a game in that manner." Even though the Miners lost, Coach Reid praised his team's performance Friday night. "The kids played their best game of the year," he said, adding "Overall, we played excellent." Altamont has a good team this year, amassing a 9-2 record thus far in the season. Their victims include a strong Parowan team and South Summit (in Kamas). The Longhorns have demolished de-molished their last four opponents, including a 103-30 103-30 victory over East Carbon. "Altamont," Coach Reid pointed out, "is accustomed to scoring 90 plus points, and we held them to fifty-seven. 6'3" senior Jeff Smith led the Miners in scoring with 21 points, followed closely by junior Dick Olsen, who scored 18 points. "We were attacking them. ' offensively," Coach Reid said, "and we were getting very good shots, especially during the first half. (During " the first two minutes of the game), they put the press on . ' and we brought the ball down and got ten-foot, jumpers from Dick ' (Olsen)' and Jeff (Smith)."; Coach Reid stayed with Guards Steve Toly and Trent Leavitt the entire game in order to contain Altamont's quick transitional style of play , and it worked. Both Toly and Leavitt handled the ball effectively. Coach Reid added. "We negated their fast-break by playing solid transition defense," he said. And Coach Reid stressed it was by far the best defensive game for the Miners so far this season. The Miners jumped to a seven-point . first-quarter lead, 15-8, and by halftime, Park City slung to a six-point lead, 31-25. . The Longhorns pressed the entire game, but Park City was able to break through the press to find the open man down court. Coach Reid said the Miners made Altamont "pay for the press." Solid shooting enabled Altamont to gain a one-point lead by the end of the third quarter. The Longhorns led, 42-41, with one quarter left to play. The hard-fought fourth period saw Altamont score . fifteen points, compared to thirteen for the Miners. Friday night's topsy-turvy contest will officially go down as a practice game in the record book, since it was non-league. The importance of the game, Coach Reid said, was that it prepared Park City for Friday's game against South Summit in Kamas. Altamont's style of play is similar to that of the Wildcats; both teams use the press and fast-break. "We seem to be playing at South Summit's level at this point," said Coach Reid. The Miners lost to South Summit here earlier in the season, but the Park City coach indicated things could be different tomorrow night. The Miners have demonstrated demon-strated marked improvement over the past few weeks. Friday night's Region Eleven game in Kamas begins at 7:30 p.m. PARK CITY- Smith, 21; Olsen, 18; Toly, 9; Leavitt, 4; Palmman, 2. 57 from the" foul line (12 for 21). ALTAMONT - Lindsay, 20; Todd, 14; Hausen, 9; Brotherson, 8; Miles, 6. 68 from the foulline (15 for 22). |