Pioneers plow past Spartans

Jay HintonDeseret News prep editor

LEHI -- Since Emery beat Lehi two weeks ago in a key Region 8 contest, the two teams have been headed in opposite directions.

One would think it would be Emery on the up-and-up and Lehi in the tailspin, but it's just the opposite.

With Lehi's 71-55 Region 8 victory over Emery Friday night, the Pioneers have won four straight games, while the Spartans, who started the year 14-0 have lost 4 of their last five.

Friday's matchup meant nothing in the standings. The Pioneers, thanks to North Sanpete's win over Emery on Wednesday, wrapped up the Region 8 championship earlier in the week. Even if the Spartans beat Lehi Friday, they couldn't finish any higher than third.

Although the region trophy was already in the case, the Pioneers still had plenty to play for -- revenge.

"I felt our kids would come out and play hard," first-year Lehi coach Craig Gladwell said. "They've done that after a loss or when they're playing a team they've lost to, they always come back and play really well."

The Spartans beat the Pioneers 34-32 two weeks ago in Castle Dale.

With the victory, the Pioneers (16-5) have won eight of their last nine games.

"(The success is from) understanding my philosophy and what we want to get done and getting more in sync with that," Gladwell said . "We've had more practices the last couple of weeks. We (early in the year) were playing a lot of games and had not had much practice time. It's been good to have practice time lately."

The Pioneers like the direction they are heading with the playoffs one week away. The Pioneers will play either Uintah or Union. Region 10 wraps up its schedule Tuesday.

"Before the season started if someone said today you'd be region champs and hosting a fourth-place team, what else would you want," Gladwell said. "We're right where we want to be. Right now every game is important. You can't stumble now. It's important to play well now."

On the contrary, Emery coach Todd Jeffs is trying to figure out how to turn his team around. They have lost three of their last four.

"All year long we've shot the three-ball unbelievably well and it's not just one or two guys," Jeffs said. "The last two weeks we can't buy one. I'm shaking my head wondering what in the world is going on. We're too good of shooters. Sooner or later we're going to have a break-out game, but we're running out of games."

Emery will travel to Judge Memorial to open the Class 3A playoff next Friday.

The Pioneers held the Spartans to just 27 percent shooting in Friday's contest, while shooting 35 percent themselves.

Along with the solid defense, the Pioneers' inside game was too much for the Spartans. Kris Jenkins led the Pioneers with 19 points and Hunter Baumgartner and Brett Allred added 18 points as they seemed to score at will inside the paint.

Emery (4-4, 16-4) tied the game at 5-5 in the first quarter, but the Pioneers answered with a 12-0 run to end the quarter, effectively putting the game away.

Emery's Bowie Jeffs led all scorers with 28 points and Chandler Pearson added 13.

Neither team shot well from the three-point line. Emery hit 1-of- 15 and Lehi 2-of-15.

In other boy's games

REGION 1

FREMONT 55, CLEARFIELD 49: The Silverwolves' Travis Thompsen buried two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as Fremont held off Clearfield. The Falcons' Randy Grundvig grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with his 15 points.

VIEWMONT 41, DAVIS 38: Solomon Jensen led the Vikings with 12 points, while Dan Davis added 9 points. Rand Sargent led the Darts with 13 points and 7 rebounds.

NORTHRIDGE 77, LAYTON 68: Jordan Burrell scored 24 points to lead the Knights. Braden Godfrey scored 25 for Layton.

REGION 2

JORDAN 59, COPPER HILLS 45: Justin Rigler popped in 19 points to lead the Beetdiggers over the Grizzlies.

RIVERTON 71, HILLCREST 57: Nick Booth led the Silverwolves with 21 points, and teammate John Hansen added 17 points. The Huskies' Ryan Fitzgerald finished with 14 points.

ALTA 65, BRIGHTON 42: The Hawks rolled past their Sandy rival as Jeff Payne, Josh Olsen and Daniel Reeder all scored in double figures. Jeff Snow led Brighton with 11 in the loss.

BINGHAM 46, WEST JORDAN 36: Danny Stosich and Jared Roberts each scored 10 points to lead the Miners.

REGION 3

TAYLORSVILLE 57, KEARNS 50: Matt Withers scored 26 points to lead the Warriors. Taylorsville is now 6-1 in Region 3.

HUNTER 74, GRANGER 72 (2OT): Otis Nelson scored 11 of his 25 points in overtime to lead the Wolverines. Mark Mulfoned led Granger with 20 points.

COTTONWOOD 64, SKYLINE 46: Andre Carter scored 22 points and Wes Anderson added 19 as the Colts dominated the second half.

REGION 4

MOUNTAIN CREST 56, ROY 55: The Mustangs edged out the 1-point win over Roy to improve to 3-2 in Region 4 play.

BOX ELDER 80, BONNEVILLE 70: The Bees, led by Robert Steed's 20 points, lit up the scoreboard to earn the Region 4 victory. Despite the loss, Jason Budge posted 28 points.

SKY VIEW 58, LOGAN 55: Clint Lee scored 22 points as the Bobcats improved to 4-1 in Region 4. Riley Olsen led Logan with 18 points.

REGION 5

WEST 45, CYPRUS 41: Lance Gummersall almost single-handedly defeated Cyprus with his 24 points. The Panthers are 4-6 in Region 5 and 8-8 overall.

EAST 65, BOUNTIFUL 47: Brady Beck buried three 3-pointers in the opening quarter as the Leopards jumped out to a 15-6 lead and then cruised to the region win. Jesse Stott and Troy Randall each finished with 16 to pace East.

OLYMPUS 70, HIGHLAND 48: Shawn Green poured in a game-high 26 points as the Titans continued their unbeaten march through Region 5. Olympus improved to 10-0 with the win while Highland fell to 6-4.

MURRAY 69, WOODS CROSS 51: Johnny Little scored 24 points to lead the Spartans.

REGION 8

LEHI 71, EMERY 55: Chris Jenkins scored 19 points as the Pioneers improved to 7-1 in Region 8. Bowie Jeffs scored 28 for Emery.

REGION 9

DIXIE 50, SNOW CANYON 36: Tom Whitehead scored 23 points and Brock Sharp had 11 rebounds as the Flyers defeated the Warriors.

PINE VIEW 71, CEDAR 39: Brad Garrett and Andy Palmer combined for 47 points for the Panthers.

HURRICANE 44, CANYON VIEW 37: The Tigers evened out their Region 9 record at 5-5 with the victory over Canyon View.

REGION 10

UINTAH 48, GRANITE 35: Trevor Brady netted 14 points as the Utes rolled past the Farmers to improve to 5-4 in Region 10. Granite, which fell to 0-9 in the region, was outscored 27-17 in the second half.

UNION 67, PARK CITY 37: Three Union players hit for double figures in the 30-point win.

WASATCH 45, JUDGE MEMORIAL 40: The Wasps held the Bulldogs to four points in the fourth quarter to pull out a key Region 10 win.

REGION 11

TOOELE 58, MORGAN 54: Easton Nigh led the Buffaloes with 22 points on three three-pointers.

BEAR RIVER 60, GRANTSVILLE 51: The Bears got balanced scoring in the win over Grantsville.

BEN LOMOND 60, OGDEN 49: The Scots used a 15-8 second quarter spurt to jump ahead of the Tigers, and then they held on for the win. Both teams finished Region 11 with 4-6 records.

REGION 12

SAN JUAN 68, GUNNISON 65: San Juan topped Gunnison in a close battle to earn the Region 12 win and move to 5-2 in the region standings.

RICHFIELD 31, SOUTH SEVIER 25: The Wildcats prevailed in a defensive battle.

REGION 13

PAROWAN 59, KANAB 46: The Rams outscored the Cowboys 23-6 in the fourth quarter to survive a scare from visiting Kanab. Colton Ray led Parowan with 15 points.

ENTERPRISE 63, MILLARD 35: The Wolves improved to 7-1 with a big win over Millard.

BEAVER 47, MONTICELLO 42: Dallen Bradshaw led the Beavers to a win with 19 points. Logan Boyd came off the bench to tie teammate David Anderson as the team's high scorer with 11.

REGION 14

JUAN DIEGO 57, SOUTH SUMMIT 52: Juan Diego moved to 7-1 in Region 14

play and 13-6 overall with the 5-point win over South Summit.

JUAB 57, NORTH SUMMIT 54: Craig Higginson and Kolby Park hit long 3-point shots to give the Wasps the win. Higginson led Juab with 19 points, while Park finished with 8 points.

GRAND 49, ROWLAND HALL 46 (OT): Chris Brewer led the Red Devils with 14 points, including 10 of 11 from the freethrow line. Steve Hirschfeld led all scorers with 15 points.

REGION 15

VALLEY 59, PIUTE 45: Owen Hoyt and Josh Sawyer combined to score 30 points in route to the Region 15 win for Valley.

PANGUITCH 99, ESCALANTE 75: Tyler Barney poured in 27 points and Wes Mangum added 22 more for the Bobcats.

BRYCE VALLEY 84, WAYNE 68: Levi LeFevre scored 38 points and Tye Ramsay added 24 as Bryce Valley blasted Wayne for the Region 15 win.

REGION 16 N.

ALTAMONT 73, UINTAH RIVER 49: Clint Stevenson scored 23 points as the Longhorns made 10 3-pointers.

RICH 49, TABIONA 37: Kyle Motta scored 14 points to give the Rebels an important win in Region 16 North.

MANILA 49, DUCHESNE 40: Jeff Catron scored 14 points and Jeremy Catron added 13 as Manila improved to 5-2 in Region 16.

REGION 16 S.

WHITEHORSE 87, MONUMENT VALLEY 63: Rolondo Whitehorse scored 26 points and Harrison Johnson added 22 more for the winning Raiders.

REGION 17

MOUNT VERNON 68, SALT LAKE LUTHERAN 50: The Patriots jumped out to a 20-point first-half lead and rolled to the region win.

WATERFORD 55, WEST RIDGE ACADEMY 38: Waterford went to 5-1 in Region 17 and 9-6 overall with the lopsided victory over W.R.A.

LAYTON CHRISTIAN 78, INTERMOUNTAIN CHRISTIAN 51: Lyman Bangerter scored 21 points and made three 3-pointers and Belford Williams added 13 points and 18 rebounds as the Eagles handed the Lions their first region loss.

CHRISTIAN HERITAGE 47, ST. JOSEPH 44 (OT): Casey Thompson scored 16 points and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in overtime to give Christian Heritage the win.

REGION 18

DUGWAY 86, WENDOVER 51: Dugway outscored Wendover 44-18 in the first half en route to the easy win. Cory Rose led Dugway with 24 points while Wendover's Matt Mascaro led all scorers with 25.

NONREGION

MANTI 50, NORTH SEVIER 34: Spence Harmon led the Templars with 10 points, 5 steals and 3 assists. Manti stayed unbeaten in region with outstanding team defense.

MOUNTAIN VIEW 75, SPRINGVILLE 59: Bryan Black scored 18 points to lead the Bruins to a nonregion win.

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