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Show They'll Oe Champions Rangely Contest To Determine Uintah Basin Tournament Entry Two evenly matched and well-trained well-trained Class B basketball teams representing Uintah and Roosevelt Roos-evelt high schools will take the floor at Rangely, Colo., Friday night for the last time this year to settle, once and for all, who has the best team and who will represent the Basin in the state tournament that opens in the University of Utah field house March 14. A decision was reached late Monday night at a meeting of coaches and principals of the two schools, held at Roosevelt, to settle the Uintah Basin district dis-trict championship at the Colo- rado high school gym at 7:30 p. m. Friday, March 9. The Roughriders and Utes ended the regular season deadlocked for the top spot, with 8 wins and 2 losses each, with each team beating the other once. Two probable sites for the playoff were proposed, with Heber He-ber City as the other. After weighing carefully all the advantages ad-vantages and disadvantages of the two communities, the matter of distance and weather prospects pros-pects prompted Coach Marcus Garrett and Principal Lawrell Jensen to concede the Rangely point. In 1949 the two teams met at Heber City in a similar contest, con-test, with the Riders emerging the victors by 4 points to give them their second straight district dis-trict title. Last year they coasted coast-ed through the season to win title number three. Information from Coaches Garrett and Clark Greenhalgh reveal their teams are in top shape, and with each having had a chance to work out on the Rangely floor, should be fit as fiddles for the big game. Contrary Con-trary to rumors heard around Roosevelt, the Uintah team has never played on the Rangely floor, which keeps it definitely a "neutral floor." An interesting sidelight on the Friday playoff is the fact that several years ago the Nephi high school "Wasps" entered the Class B tourney in Salt Lake City, and co-starring on that team were Clark Greenhalgh and Marcus Garrett, and both boys did themselves proud in the classic. Greenhalgh later played for the B.Y.U. and Garrett Gar-rett went to Utah and later to U.S.A.C. at Logan. If the Vernal team should win the Friday game, it will be the first time in seven long years since they won the district title and played in a state tournament. tourn-ament. During those seven years the Roughriders have played in five classics, with Altamont and Duchesne each having had a chance to represent the Basin in Salt Lake City. Incidently, it was Arvard Rigby, current Uintah Uin-tah high principal, who was coach of the Altamont team when they won the title. He later was principal at Roosevelt high school for three years. Four of the starting five on the Ute team will be playing their last high school basketball and only two of the Riders will be lost for next year. Bryson, Fisher, Max and Marion Caldwell Cald-well are graduating seniors, leaving only Don Barr, a junior, who will wear the red and white for Vernal next year. Franklin Peterson is the only senior on the Roosevelt team, but Frank Snyder, although only a junior, will pass beyond the age limit next year, and will be ineligible for competition in 1952. Regardless of whether they win or lose, the remainder of Garrett's boys will not be playing play-ing under the Roosevelt high school banner next year, but will be fighting for places on the first Union high school basketball bas-ketball team, since it is anticipated an-ticipated the new school will be ready for use next fall. There will not be a playoff between the two "B" teams, who, like the "A" lads, ended in a tie for the district honors. It had first been decided to have the second teams play a preliminary prelim-inary contest, but was later changed. |