Region Wrestling Championship

Timp Sports Weekly

February 8, 2011

Publisher's Message

Our cover story this week will be the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings' winning the Region Four wrestling championship. We will also look at the Lehi Pioneers, AKA the Froggies, flooding away the Provo Bulldogs, AKA the Bullpuppies, in Region Seven girls and boys' basketball action. Finally, we will look at the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings' heartbreaking, home loss to the Alta Hawks, AKA the Tweeties, in Region Four girls' basketball action. Let's get to those stories

Dean Von Memmott

Publisher

deanmemmott@hotmail.com

Lehi Pioneer Girls End Long Losing Streak With Home Win Over Provo Bullpuppies

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

After enduring a month of experiencing only losses, the Lehi Pioneer girls' basketball team finally had something to croak about during a Feb. 1 game at home against the Provo Bulldogs, AKA the Bullpuppies. In their rematch against Provo, the Pioneers, AKA the Froggies, flooded the Bullpuppies away 53-34.

Lehi Coach Troy Gifford said proudly in his Louisiana accent, "I'm glad we finally got another region win tonight. Our girls learned to play basketball tonight. They passed very well, and they didn't make many turnovers. In the third period, Provo turned the ball over 11 times and we did that only once. We didn't press at all, but Provo did. We held well under their press."

The game unfolded with the Bullpuppies howling out to a 4-0 lead on shots from Melainia Morales and Samantha "Bewitched" Kohler. Provo's control of the game lasted only a short time. Shots from Brooke Barnes and Aerin Ogden permitted Lehi to tie the game at four. An Anau Falaeo free throw sent the Froggies hopping ahead 5-4. A "distant cousin" of advice Abbie Van Buren, Janessa Van Buren put Provo ahead 6-5, but a Barnes trey gave Lehi an 8-6 advantage. A Trisha Quilter left Lehi in charge of a 10-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

For a little while, the game stayed closed. However, when Froggie Angu Ahquin put a shot back in, Lehi went on a 7-0 scoring run. It rang in the beginning of the end for the Bullpuppies. EVen though Provo's Kelci Koop sank a free throw, the Froggies held the Bullpuppies to five points in the second quarter. In the meantime, Ogden became really hot in her scoring. Aided by a Barnes three-pointer, Ogden's scoring resulted in Lehi taking a 26-11 lead into the second half.

In the third period, Barnes hit a trey and an inside shot that pushed Lehi's lead beyond the 20-point mark. Barnes went on to dominate Lehi scoring in the third period. Meanwhile, Whitney Cook shocked the Bullpuppies with a steal that ended with her sinking a layup. Such plays kept Lehi confident about its chances of finally atoning for its Jan. 8 loss at Provo.

With Provo held to eight points in the third quarter, the prospect of the Bullpuppies having enough time for rallying back faded away quicker than you could say Ali Lamb Chop. When the period ended with Barnes sinking a layup on a steal, the score read 41-19, Lehi.

In the fourth quarter, Provo had to rely on foul shots from Michelle Isom and Kelci Koop to get a rally going. The Bullpuppies saw Alexis Bosco, a relative of former BYU football player Robbie "Zoobie Doobie" Bosco, come up with steals. However, Provo couldn't reduce the point spread to single digits because of Froggies Kenzie Arviso and Jalissa having a good night at the foul line. Ogden continued doing serious damage to Provo inside the key. By the time the final buzzer sounded, Lehi was on its way to rebuilding its morale. Gifford said, "Tonight was a great morale booster for us."

Barnes led Lehi with 14 points while Ogden added another 11. Morales and Isom led Provo with seven points each.

Lehi Boys Wash Out Provo Bullpuppies 76-45

By Deao Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

With the Jazz Bear providing much entertainment at Lehi Feb. 1, the Pioneers, AKA the Froggies neutered the Provo Bulldogs, AKA the Bullpuppies 76-45 in Region Seven boys' basketball action that night.

Lehi Coach Craig Gladwell said, "In the last couple of games, we didn't play as good as we did tonight. We guarded Provo well tonight. That will help us when we play Timpview next. They're the only ones who have beaten us in region so far. Colton Colledge did really good inside the key and pulling down big boards for us. Our guard line chipped in to help us keep Provo under control."

During the first quarter of the game, the Froggies held the Bullpuppies to seven points. In the meantime, Ryan Pittard layup and a Colledge trey gave Lehi an early 5-0 lead. After teammate Dusty Draeger had improved the lead at 7-0, Provo proceeded to come back. A "cousin" of outer space hero Flash Gordon, Cole "Lighning" Gordon scored four straight unanswered points to put Provo within 7-4. Colledge hit a trey that opened a 17-3 scoring run that stretched into the second period.

Even though Provo's Chris Santiago hit an inside shot to spark Bullpuppy scoring for Quarter 2, the Bullpuppies couldn't put together an effective offense in the period. This fact impeached the credibility of a comment that one relative of Santiago's had once said to the Beautiful Stephanie Trane, a one-time Awesome American Fork Cavewoman basketball player: "Watching girls' basketball is as exciting as watching paint dry."

For that night, watching the Lehi-Provo boys' basketball game was as exciting as watching a car rust. Thank God, the Jazz Bear kept spectators from dozing off in the game's breaks. During the second quarter, the Froggies outscored the Bullpuppies 26-11. The combined shooting of Draeger, Colledge, Brad "Mr. McGregor" and Ryan Christofferson created a 43-18 lead for Lehi in the second quarter.

Lehi stayed up by more than 20 points during the entire second half, even though Santiago and Andy Finch guided a more aggressive Bulldog offensive effort in the final two periods. They saw Lehi's Zach Stanley shock Provo through sinking a trey and scoring a layup on a steal in the fourth quarter.

Colledge led Lehi with 26 points while Christofferson added another 21 and Draeger 13. Gordon led the Bullpuppies with 12 points while Santiago and Finch each added another nine.

Pleasant Grove Wins Region 4 Wrestling Championship

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

Braving fierce competition from the Alta Hawks, AKA the Tweeties, the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings won the Region Four wrestling tournament, held Feb. 2-3 at Pleasant Grove.

The team scores read Pleasant Grove 465.5, Alta 395.5, Jordan 217, Brighton 198, Lone Peak 169, American Fork 146, and Hillcrest 50.

Viking Coach Rockin' Brock Moore said, "It's good that we're peaking right now. I hope we can continue peaking at state. We had a lot of competition from Alta at this tournament. Alta's a tough a team. It helped us that we had two matches that each featured two wrestlers from our program."

Pleasant Grove had representation in everyone of the tournament's 13 championship matches , save for the ones for the 135 and 140 weight class title belts.

The opening of the championship matches didn't fare well for the Ferocious Vikings. In the 103 weight class match, Alta's Al "Bad Bird" Findley defeated Ferocious Viking Parker "The Dart" Christensen on a technical fall. Brighton's Rami "The Baddest Puddy Alive" Haddin overwhelmed Pleasant Grove's d112-pounder, The Great Caden Erckenbach, 1-1.

The string of Ferocious Viking losses ended with Pleasant Grove's Korby "Earl Adorable" Levin winning 10-2 over teammate Bridger "The Saw" Cutler in their 119 weight class match.

In the 125 weight class championship match, Jordan's Kevin "The Silver Hammer" Maxwell took an 8-2 lead over Ferocious Viking Bronson "High Strung" Young. The Ferocious Viking battled back within 8-6 on a reversal and a two-point near fall. However, The Silver Hammer still won the championship belt.

Ferocious Viking fans cheered on Brighton Bad Old Puddy Tat Mick "The Slick" Runyan in his 135 weight class match against Alta's Nate "Count Baad" Lamb. The Slick won the match 4-0.

Jordan's Ethan "High Tone" Jones conquered Viking Russ "The Big Fuss" McDonell 14-1 for the 145 weight class belt.

in the 152 weight class final, Dusty "The Tight Rope" Young of Pleasant Grove and Alta's Tony "The All-American Birdy" Armstrong battled to a 2-2 draw in the first peirod. However, The Tight Rope escaped in the second period and went on to win 6-2.

After Plesaant Grove Quinn "The Cardinal Sin" Nielsen had pinned Lone Peak's Zach "Bushwhack" Burr for the 161 weight class title, Ferocious Vikings Jesse "Outlaw" Christensen and teammate Nick "Tick Tock" Whitehead grappled for the 171 weight class crown. They battled to a 3-3 tie in the first period. However, Tick Tock escaped in the second period, and he went on to win 11-3.

"Though Whitehead is a jayvee wrestler, it was so great to see him take region," Moore said. "He did really good in his matches during this tournament."

Tick Tock Whitehead turned out to be the last Ferocious Viking to take region that night. In the 189 weight class final, Viking Brandon 'Branding Iron" took Jordan's Zane "Prince Pain" Sayers down. However, the Jordan Plowboy pulled ahead 3-2 in the period and used a third-period reversal to secure a 5-2 win over Branding Iron.

In the 215 weight class match, Viking Dusty "Dust Storm" Dennison took a 2-0 lead over Lars "Crow Bar" Oveson of Alta. However, Crow Bar built up a 5-2 lead in the second period. Dust Storm battled back within 6-4 and 8-7, but he couldn't catch up with Crow Bar.

In the 285 weight class match, Alta's Shad "Senor Menace" Ennis took an 8-2 lead over Viking Zach "Big Dog" Dawe and went on to win 10-5.

Alta Tweeties Fly Home With 69-55 Win Scored at PG Feb. 4

By Dean Von Memmott

Timp Sports Weekly Publisher

AKA the Tweeties, the Alta Hawks posted a 69-55 win on the Ferocious Pleasant Grove Vikings home court during Region Four girls' basketball action Feb. 4.

Led by Kenzi Morrison and Lexi "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" Garland, the Tweeties took a 20-9 lead over the Ferocious Vikings in the first quarter.

After Tweetie Brooke Miller hit an inside shot in the early second quarter, the Ferocious Vikings opened a strong comeback on a Kourtney Dinehart trey. Britney Johnson and Danyele "Panther" Hoffman guided the Viking rally through layups and foul shots. Morrison's shooting did slow down the rally somewhat. Still, when a Hoffman jumper put the Vikings within 30-24, they sensed that they had a chance for coming back, especially when the Tweeties were sending them to the foul line a lot in the quarter. However, the Vikings committed fouls as often as Alta did in the period. Thanks to Viking fouls late in the second quarter, free throws from Morrison and Hayli "Sergeant" Shurtz stretched Alta's lead to 36-25. Stealing in the last few seconds of the half, Hoffman sank a layup at the buzzer.

A Jessica Butler bucket opened a 6-0 scoring run for the Tweeties in the early third period. For the next few minutes, Alta kept its lead in double figures. However, a Hoffman trey spark an 11-2 scoring run that positioned the Ferocious Vikings within 45-40. Morrison undermined Pleasant Grove's comeback attempt through sinking two straight unanswered shots at the end of the third quarter.

The final period started with a Garland layup that put the Tweeties' lead back into double figures. Morrison and Shurtz frustrated Viking attempts to reduce the point spread to single digits in the game's concluding moments. Aided by Becky Clement, Janae Olson, and Marci "Darcy" Johnson, Britney Johnson and Hoffman worked together to cut the lead down to 61-55. However, Morrison and Garland's frequent trips to the line ranked up eight free points that gave the Tweeties the win.

Hoffman led Pleasant Grove with 21 points while Britney Johnson added another 17. Morrison led Alta with 33 points while Garland posted another 13.