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Show Despite losses to North Summit, St. Joseph, Miners are confident i i r . r W - . ;5 c. fj. . i ) : photos by DaveAdler Park City's Bruce Buckner twists and glides to get this shot off over North Summit's David Brown. Buckner scored 10 points for Miners, who lost 56-46. I mil I I I I r 1 1 11 Jeff Keye reflects the determination with which the Miners played Friday night in a losing cause to second-ranked North Summit. by Dave Adler It is often said in the sporting world that before a team can realize its potential it must first see its potential. Despite a pair of close losses last weekend, the Park City High School basketball team may well have caught a glimpse of its future capabilities. While his team was dealt a 56-46 loss at home Friday night by second-ranked North Summit and a heart-wrenching 49-48 defeat at St. Joseph on Saturday, Coach Paul Willard was not dismayed by the losses. "This is what we've been looking for all year. I'm really proud of the kids. We played a smart, patient game and played under control, within our abilities. "I think the kids gained a lot of confidence in themselves this weekend. week-end. I think they saw their true potential," he said. On Friday, the Park City quintet more than held its own against one of the state's top-ranked teams, and the visitors were probably happy to leave town with their unblemished record still intact. The Miners held a 15-13 edge after one quarter of play and trailed by just four at the half, 29-25, even though they are considerably smaller than North Summit. In spite of North Summit's height advantage that allowed them two and sometimes three shots each possession, the Miners seemed to control the contest the first half. "We played under control and took the good percentage shot," said Willard. "When we didn't have the early offense, we held it and played with patience." North Summit burst out of the gate in the second half with five unanswered baskets to open 39-25. Undaunted, the Miners fought back, trimming the lead to sue points before the Braves got it back to a 14-point gap. The tenacious Miners cut the margin to just six points with one minute to play, but that was as close as they got. In the end, the Braves' height advantage spelled the difference. While each team managed 20 baskets from the field, the Braves "won the game from the free throw line," said Willard. "In trying to rebound with them, we fouled them and sent them to the line," he added. North Summit converted on 16 of 24 attempts from the charity stripe. The Miners connected on six of ten free throws. High scorer for Park City was Matt Mapstone with 16 points. Bruce Buckner scored 10 points, and Greg King had eight tallies. Saturday's trip to St. Joseph in Ogden marked homecoming of sorts for Willard, who coached there 14 years, but it was not the return trip he had hoped for as the Miners fell 49-48 when St. Joseph scored with five seconds left on the clock. "It was a great game, real exciting," he said. "We had our chance at the end, but we missed two shots." The non-league contest left the Miners with a 5-10 overall record and a 3-5 league mark. Park City opened a 12-6 first quarter lead and stayed out in front for the remainder of the half, taking a 24-19 lead into the locker room. But the Miners came out a little flat in the third quarter, and when the period ended they trailed 36-35. Although the lead changed hands several times for the rest of the game, neither team had more than a ' three-point lead. Tatum led the Miners with 14 points. King scored 13, Jeff Keye chipped in with eight, and Buckner and Mapstone added four points apiece. The Miners close out their home season Friday night when they host South Rich, which holds a one-game lead over the Miners in league play. Willard said his team will be gunning to overtake South Rich for third place. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. |