Heartbreaker in Heber

Salem Hills is the last to defeat Wasatch, holding on for a 58-57 win in the Wasp’s home opener

BY KENNY BRISTOW

Wave Sports Writer

The Wasatch High School boy’s basketball team is six games into the season and they have only one win to show for it.  Three of their losses have been sound beatings and the other two have been games they could have won if not for bad finishes.  Even their lone victory went into overtime when they allowed Carbon to close their lead in the fourth quarter.

With Thursday night’s home opener in The Nest against Salem Hills, Wasatch would be able to feed off the energy from their home crowd and remedy the poor shooting and low free throw percentage that has plagued them in all of their defeats. 

It didn’t look good from the start as Salem Hills opened the game with a three-pointer in their first possession.  The Wasps did not answer for over three minutes and quickly found themselves down 9-2.  A time out and a change in strategy woke up the black and gold and they began to close the gap, finishing the first quarter down 12-7.

Then Wasatch got aggressive and played what may have been their best 30 minutes of basketball so far this season.  The Wasps traded three-point baskets with Salem Hills and they were able to capitalize on the rough treatment by the visitors under the boards to eventually work their way to a seven-point lead halfway through the last period.  That’s about the time the fourth quarter blues hit Wasatch – again.

The two teams traded buckets with Salem Hills chipping away slowly at the Wasp’s lead and their confidence.  Salem Hills’ sharp shooter Alejandro Llamas hit his sixth three-point basket of the game off a Wasatch turnover with a minute and half left in regulation.  On the ensuing possession for the Wasps, Chris Johnson was fouled underneath, but missed both free throws.  Salem Hills would not be as unfortunate on their next possession, however, reaching the charity stripe and nailing both for a 58-57 advantage.

The Wasps had plenty of time to set up a play and go for the game winner, but after several passes trying to work the ball into the paint, the flurry of passes ended with a missed shot giving the Skyhawks the narrow victory.

Head Coach Lonnie Magnusson, obviously disappointed with the way his team let this one slip away said, “Missed free throws down the stretch.”   “We played well enough to win, but you can’t miss that many shots at the end,” he added before heading into the locker room to address his team.

The loss buries a few great efforts by the Wasps, notably Gordon Jackson, who had 17 points, and three steals to go with his three big three-point buckets.  Point guard Jeff Murdock played an inspired game and scored 14 points while assisting on four Wasp baskets.  Chris Johnson was strong underneath with eight rebounds and Cooper Ballstaedt hit a couple of three-pointers while adding eight points.