Lone Peak-Lehi Basketball

Timp Sports Weekly

December 14, 2009

Publisher's Message

For this week's issue, we look at Lehi wrestling and two Lehi boys' basketball stories. One of those stories will deal with the theme of the decade-long rivalry between the Lehi Pioneers and the Lone Peak Knights, AKA the Loners. Their rivalry is as fierce as the one between the Knights and the Awesome American Fork Cavemen. The Dec. 11 game between Lone Peak and Lehi showed how intense the rivalry could get at times. Let's get to those stories.

Dean Von Memmott

Publisher

deanmemmott@hotmail.com

Lehi Pioneers Skin Kearns Kittens 63-37 in Exhibition Game December 8

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

After having exorcised the Springville Devils, AKA the Helltown Hellions, by three points on Dec. 7, the Lehi Pioneers rowed back into town Dec. 8 and skinned the Kearns Cougars, AKA the Kittens, 62-37 in boys' basketball.

The triumph improved Lehi's preseason record at 4-0. Lehi Coach Craig Gladwell said, "Our inside kids did a great job with getting the close shots in for us. We had a tougher time at Springville last night. So tonight's game was a little easier for us. Our defense did a really good job in closing off their passing lanes in the third period, so we were able to keep them from rushing back."

With Lehi's Willie Walker sinking a layup to open the night's scoring, the Pioneers took swift control of the game. After Ryan Chistofferson had put the lead at 4-0, Morino Moore nailed a jumper to put the Kittens on the scoreboard. Kearns suddenly went cold in scoring. Walker and Jordan "Mr. " McGregor led Lehi on an 8-0 scoring run. A Dalton Noble shot opened a 9-4 scoring run that put the Cougars within 16-11 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Kearns kept Lehi from pulling farther ahead than 23-12. Two Moore foul shots sparked another rally for Kearns. Moore and Sammy Sweat moved the Cougars within 25-18. Moore wowed spectator with a layup that he made right behind him. That shot trimmed the lead to 25-18. Lehi's Cody Hauver answered that shot with a jumper made on a Walker assist. After Christofferson and Cougar Brady Sawsak had each swished two foul shots, Noble hit a three-point shot during the buzzer, cutting the lead to 29-23.

In the third period, McGregor hit an inside shot that stirred up an impressive display of firepower. At the same time, Lehi held the Kittens to six points during the entire third period. It ended with Lehi leading 45-27.

Lehi's Josh Scott opened the fourth quarter with scoring four straight unanswered points. Zach Stanley's foul shooting pushed the Pioneer lead past the 20-point mark. The Cougars couldn't do much in scoring on the floor. They had to settling for picking up the majority of their fourth-quarter points from the foul line.

When the game ended , Scott led Lehi with 15 points while Walker added 14, Christofferson 11, and McGregor eight. Noble led the Kittens with 10 points.

Lehi Grapplers Open Home Season With 56-18 Win Over Orem Tiggers

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Lehi Pioneer wrestlers opened their home season with a 56-18 win over the Orem Tigers, AKA the Tiggers, Dec. 10.

Lehi Coach Dan "Mr. Nice" Rice said, "We have showed tonight to be good at 119, 125, 135, 189, and 215. Our 215 wrestler ran out of gas in his match tonight, though."

The Region Seven dual meet opened on a thrilling note with a 171 weight class match between Lehi's Braxton "The Slick" Southwick and Orem's Josh "The Blue Razor" Steele. Scoring a takedown first, The Blue Razor built up an 8-3 lead over The Slick. Southwick battled back to tie the match at 12 by the end of regulation. In the overtime phase, Southwick took Steele down to win 14-12.

The 189 weight class match saw Lehi's Taylor "Il Toro" Savio take Orem's Seth "Low Blow" Snow down and pin him within a minute. 

In the 215 weight class match, Lehi's Bubba "The St. George Dragon" Demke took a 2-0 lead over Orem's Trevor "Mr. Exterminator" Gruwell. The lead changed hands a few times during the match. Shortly before regulation time was to expire in the second period, Mr. Exterminator pinned the St. George Dragon.

Lehi's Garrett "The Tricky Stud" Bolles didn't let that fall go unanswered. In his 289 weight class match, he pinned Henry "The Orem Matador" Sanchez 75 seconds into the bout.

Lehi received a reminder that it was still going to lose matches in the dual meet. The 103 weight class match saw Orem's Jovani "The Yoyo" Tolayo pinned Lehi's Logan "The North Briton Laddie" Passy.

After the Pioneers had improved their lead at 21-12 on Andy "Baron Dandy" Tilley's forfeit win, Lehi's 119-pounder, Steve "Sir Doom" DuBose grappled in a tight match against Orem's Robert "Bad Boy Bobby" Salinas. Sir Doom won his match 6-4.

After Lehi's 130-pounder Koy "Squeeze Toy" Ash had overcome Vince "The Driller" Miller 10-1, Pioneer Tanner "The Earl of Destruction" Eastmond pinned Jacob "The Super Tigger" Simpson in their 135 weight class match. That pin set off a series of swift Lehi wins. Justin "The Throttle" Cottle, Logan "The Hoppin' Hound" Brown, and Trevor "The Handsome" Hansen each scored a pin for Lehi. The dual meet ended with Orem's 160-pounder, Taylor "Lord Mac" McNeil sticking Lehi's Colby "The Lightning Bolt" Massa.

Lone Peak Loners End Lehi Boy Hoopsters Winning Streak

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

The Lehi Pioneer boys' basketball team knew that its latest winning streak would come to an end at some point this season. The Pioneers simply didn't want the ending to occur during their Dec. 11 game at home against the Lone Peak Knights, AKA the Loners. However, in the game's last 10 seconds, a Nick Emery shot gave the Loners a 52-50 over Lehi.

The rivalry between the schools showed itself shortly before the opening tipped. The two balconies of the main gym became packed with students and other spectators. Dressed in white shirts, Lehi students "read" newspapers while the announcer shouted out names of the Knights' starters. Those kids then tore up their newspapers when they heard the names of their team's starters.

Lehi students cheered hysterically when Pioneer Ryan Chistofferson hit a three-pointer to open the game's scoring. Soon Knight Brody Berry stole the ball and got fouled. He hit a free throw that Lone Peak used as a base for a 6-0 scoring run. Two straight Emery treys put the Knights ahead 7-5. Zach Stanley hit a go-ahead trey for the Pioneers. A seesaw fight ensued. The first quarter ended with two Jordan McGregor foul shots putting Lehi ahead 11-9.

With Knight Chris Childs tying the game at 11 during the start of the second period, the Pioneers quickly found out that they would have serious problems with other Loners besides Emery. Shots from Childs and Tannon Pedersen enabled the Knights to swipe back the lead as soon as Lehi had secured it. The Knights led by as far as 26-22 in the period. Christofferson and Willie Walker's efforts inside the key kept the Pioneers close to the 5-A powerhouse. The half ended with a McGregor foul shot trimming the Loners' lead to 26-23.

With Pioneer Zach Stanley tying the game at 28 on a trey early in the third period, Josh Scott put Lehi ahead 30-28. The Pioneers led for the rest of the quarter, even though the Loners did tie the game at 35 and 38 on a Pedersen three-point play and an Emery three-pointer. At the end of the quarter, Walker sank a layup that gave Lehi a 46-43 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Emery became a bigger threat both inside and outside the perimeter. Emery's shooting made Lehi's hold on the lead slippery. After a Scott foul shot had improved Lehi's lead at 50-47 in the last minute, Emery hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 50. Under the immense pressure of the tied score, Lehi lost control of the ball. The turnover proved fall. At 0:07, Emery hit his go-ahead shot. Lehi gambled on a corner shot which flew over the hoop. 

Scott led Lehi with 12 points while Walker and Stanley each contributed 11 points.  Pedersen led Lone Peak with 22 points, and Emery added another 19.