OCR Text |
Show X : : . , -" . 3 mmmm .,,. i. im. lm ,- mmtmm iMMiMiilillMlWWMlHMMWWW'WW"' " W WW1" 11 T r fr""1t """ ' " 1 " "Tf """" "" ' "r T T ' I' I III II 1 1 II " II " I I "' . . ' Ml A ft' v .-it HI V - -M - ' - V i'J'1 , J v ...y - , I i , lJ j - I i v t J l . - ic Miner forward Mike Sparks shows utter surprise after his shot is rudely knocked away by Mt. Vernon, as Miner Matt Mapstone looks for the rebound. LRark City takes no prisoners in ; 77-61 stuffing of Mt. Vernon fourth personal foul and had to sit down. Mike Price came in to replace him and im-rnediately im-rnediately took over the rebounding role. Soon Mike Sparks came in for Yager, who had foul trouble also, and added to the backboard strength. In their two quarters quar-ters of play, Price pulled down nine rebounds, and Sparks scored nine points. Four successive medium-range medium-range jumpers by guards Pat Ott and Winchester gave the Miners a 55-45 lead. It ballooned to 62-50 at the quarter. And as Park City expanded their lead, the Patriots started to force the ball, knowing that was the only way they could make a comeback. But the Miner defense ate it up, stealing and blocking shots, and creating a general state of chaos for the Patriots. Soon it was over, 77 61. Critchlow was impressed with the performance of his bench. In addition to Sparks and Price, he lauded the play of Craig Griffin, and Scott Tatum. "Griffin is shooting 66 percent per-cent from the field, and is doing an excellent job as our sixth or seventh man," said Critchlow. And Tatum, only a sophomore, will do a lot of positive things down the road, he added. Overall, he also liked the way the team bounced back from the St. Joe defeat. Me said they worked well Monday Mon-day and Tuesday after the loss, showing a good hardworking hard-working attitude. "I'm pleased with the progress, and 1 think we are going in the right direction." Next on the agenda for the team is the Summit Tournament Tour-nament to be held Friday and Saturday at Wasatch and Morgan High Schools. The Miners play at 2A Wasatch Friday at 8 p.m. and at 2A Morgan Saturday at8p.m. Park City, according to Critchlow, will be a heavy underdog in both games. Wasatch has already beaten a 3A opponent. The teams, said Critchlow, will be probably the toughest opponents op-ponents of the season for the Miners. But he thinks if the Miners can work on getting better defensive position, avoiding foul trouble, then they can give the 2A teams a good game. , , by Randy Hanskat After watching the Miners score 27 fourth quarter poin- ? ts in the Npv. 19 loss to St. Joseph's, the crowd at Miner gym the following Wednesday Wed-nesday njght expected a. good showing from the home- - town boys. j They weren't disappointed. disappoint-ed. On the night before Thanksgiving, the Mt. Vernon Ver-non Patriots probably gave thanks that they got out alive, after the Miners had handed them a 77-61 beating . All coaches have different systems of rating their team's performance. Some count points scored, shot selection, etc. But first-year 1 Miner coach Kent Critchlow doesn't place his emphasis, on points. He puts his atten-tion atten-tion on the play that leads to point scoring. Critchlow eives a blaver a non. Turnovers killed the Miners in the St. Joe game, as they tried to repeatedly force the ball inside. In that game they turned the ball over 32 times. But in the Nov. 23 contest the total was only 14. Forward Matt Mapstone led the Miner scorers with 16 points, many on 15- to 20-foot jumpers which cleanly swished through the hoop. Forward Kenny Collins also had a good game, pouring in li the same Jotai added by center Tim Tebbs. The Miners jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but foul trouble became a problem. Five quick Miner fouls gave the Patriots a 10-6 lead, and one wondered if another St. Joe game was in store. But some very physical rebounding by Tebbs made sure that .possibility didn't il for a rebound, an assist, for taking a charge, making natively, he gives a rl if he commits a foul, travels with the ball, makes a bad pass, or commits a three-second violation. When the team totals for these figures are added, Critchlow says, his team usually needs at least a 35 score to . win. ; In last week's season- openings loss to St. Joseph, s the Miners score was -4. But showing their improvement, im-provement, the Miners' rating score this week was 47. The game score reflected reflec-ted the change also, as the Miners pumped in game score reflected the change also, as the Miners pumped in 30 more points against Mt. Vernon than against St. Joe. ! Critchlow was impressed, : beyond the rating im- provement, with the shot : selection and shooting ac-l ac-l curacy of his teamJQ ihsM shots taken from the field, 31 hit the mark for a 49 percent .shooting average. For high I school, Critchlow thinks that average is very good. He ex- plained the high Miner average shows good shot selection, not taking shots which were too far out, or too unmakeable. Turnovers also dropped drastically against Mt. Ver- become a reality. His rebounds, taking advantage of a two- to three-inch height advantage over each Patriot player, soon gave the Miners the lead 18-15. It was a lead the Miners would never again relinquish. Critchlow's aggressive defensive alignment soon made for many more Park City buckets. Steals by Collins, Steve Winchester, John Yager, and Mapstone gave the Miners many fast break opportunities. But unlike last week, the Miners didn't rush their shots. They took their time, waiting for the good shot to open up. Soon the score was 24-15 early in the second quarter. Then Tebbs began having trouble and the Miners lost some of their composure, allowing Mt. Vernon to creep back into the game. After the Patriots had converted on two three-point plays, Tebbs vented his frustration, and received a technical from the referees. The score closed to 36-33 Park City with 2: 19 left in the half. But amazing 20-foot hoops by Collins, and a technical on the Mt. Vernon bench kept the Patriots from taking the lead. The Miners expanded their lead to 41-33 at the half. At the start of the second half Tebbs picked up his |