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Show Miners start well but finish. ..well... I M 1 feu I , LI) . i rt ' j V;, ?( j) ; r Iff by David Hampshire If you are a Miner fan, there was only one problem with the North Summit basketball game Friday night: It was three quarters too long. As a partisan North Summit crowd watched in disbelief, the underdog Park City Miners jumped out to a 10-2 lead after 4 V2 minutes and were still ahead 16-13 at the quarter. But the rest of the game was all North Summit, as the Braves roared back to take an 11 -point lead at the half, then coasted to a 69-51 victory. The Braves, ranked among the top two 1A schools in the state by both Salt Lake City daily newspapers, were simply too big and too quick for the Miners. "That's a good, solid team," Park City Coach Paul Willard conceded later. "They've got good depth, they've got good size, they're very aggressive and they're a good defensive ballclub." But in spite of all that, Park City didn't roll over and play dead. Not by any means. The Miners came out running and led 6-0 after three minutes, apparently unfazed by North Summit's full-court press. "I think the kids showed they have much greater ability than North Summit gave them credit for," Willard said. "I think North Summit was looking past us a little bit." However, after the score had , reached 10-2 the euphoria started to wear off. Passes began to bounce off the back walls. Two travelling calls slowed the momentum further. If there was one single moment that brought the Miners down to earth, it came with about 2:30 left in the quarter while they were protecting a 12-6 lead. A foul brought a North Summit player to the free throw line. He made the first shot, then missed the second. But teammate Mark Oldham was there to grab the rebound and put it through the hoop. Suddenly it was 12-9. But it gets worse. Park City's Todd Mullen was called for a foul on the play, sending Oldham to the line. To add insult to injury Mullen was given a technical foul when ne flipped Hie ball to the referee (who wasn't watching) and hit him in tne lace. The Braves made both free throws to reduce the Miner lead to 12-11, then were given the ball out of bounds with a chance to take the lead. However, Park City's Matt Map-stone Map-stone had had enough. He pilfered the in-bounds and raced to the hoop for an easy layup, restoring the Miners' dignity, if only temporarily. Mapstone and Dave Vida carried the load in the first quarter, scoring 14 of Park City's 16 points. Vida, who has a reputation for playing well off the bench, entered the game after starting center Scott Tatum picked up three fouls in the first two minutes. If the Miners won the first quarter, the Braves owned the second and third. During that stretch they outscored the Miners 45-18, turning a close game into a runaway. By the end of the third quarter it was 58-34 North Summit. "We just got out of our set offense," Willard observed, giving some of the credit to North Summit's man-to-man full-court-pressure defense. "That created a situation where we were not seeing the court well." Willard also said the Braves had a substantial edge in rebounds, particularly on the offensive boards. "We quit boxing them out and they got two, three and four shots." To the Miners' credit, they never gave up, fighting back in the fourth quarter to trim the North Summit margin from 24 points to 18. Willard pointed out that the foul situation played a big role in the outcome of the game. North Summit scored only three more field goals than Park City, but made 21 of 37 free throws while Park City converted only 9 of 21. Mapstone, Vida and Tatum tied for the Park City scoring lead, each with 10 points. Eight of Vida's points came in the opening quarter. , photos by David Hampshire Miner guard Eric Olson takes a flying leap in an attempt to stop a North Summit in-bounds pass. Park City's leading rebounders were Bruce Buckner (nine) and Mullen (eight). "That was one of Buckner' s best games," Willard said. "He just worked his tail off the whole game." With the exception of Mark Knudson, who was sick, all the Park City varsity players saw action. "It was good for them to get a taste of the pressure," Willard said. The loss drops the Miners' record to 1-2 in league play, 3-5 overall. On Friday they are scheduled to travel to Randolph to play the South Rich Trojans. "They are a lot like we are," Willard said. "They have played well at times . . . They also have a new coach and are adapting to a new system." South Rich is 2-1 in league play, with wins over Manila and North Rich and a loss to South Summit. Park City forward Bruce Buckner (45) lunges for a rebound, but it looks as if North Summit guard Tommy Pace (10) got there first. |
