Wasatch Roundballers Stay Hot

Girls and boys teams both win at Uintah

BY KENNY BRISTOW

There was no letdown for Wasp basketball on Tuesday night, as both the girls and boys varsity teams traveled to Uintah and took care of business.  The girls won their game 56-41 and the boys came out on top 53-39.

After last Friday night’s emotional home victories over rival Park City, the Wasp teams could have been ripe for being upset on the road, but the coaching staffs for both squads did a good job of keeping their teams focused on the task at hand.  That task of course was to continue playing great fundamental basketball and keeping themselves in position for deep playoff runs when the post season begins in two weeks.

In the girls game, it was a consistent offensive output of double-figure point totals that decided the pace of the game.  After a fast start for both sides, resulting in a 19-17 Ute advantage after the first quarter, the Wasp defense stepped it up a notch and shut down Uintah the rest of the way.  Uintah managed only 22 points total in the remaining three quarters.

Once again it was senior guard Rebecca MaWhinney leading the way for the Lady Wasps with a season-high 25 points.  The future UVU Wolverine also contributed eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.  Junior Heather Evans had a big game for Wasatch chipping in 14 points and six rebounds and senior Renee Fagg remained a consistent force with seven points, eight boards and a couple of assists.

The ladies kept their firm grip on the conference lead, tied with Juan Diego after the victory.  The Dons come to Heber City on Friday night in what could to be the winner take all game for Region 10.

In the nightcap, the boys won their third straight region game, a season high for them.  They used a 19-point outpouring in the second quarter to pull away from the Utes who never factored after that.  The Wasps were up to their usual tricks of spreading the ball around as seven players contributed to the score sheet.  Jackson Gordon led the way with 10 points followed by Cooper Ballstaedt who had nine.  Senior Chris Johnson, and juniors Jeff Murdock and Ben Pelo added six points apiece.

The win gave Wasatch a 4-3 conference record tying them for third with Park City.  With three games remaining on the schedule – all region contests – the Wasps are in position to hang on to that third place.  After letting so many victories slip through their fingers this campaign, the Wasps seem to have figured out a way to manage their games.  Since the start of the new calendar year, Wasatch is 5-3.  One of those losses was by one point and the other by two points.  It has been an amazing turnaround for a team that could have quit long ago.

Delacenserie Plays In Game Of Top West Coast Recruits

Wasp quarterback spends the weekend in Carson, California

taking part in the South Bay BMW West Coast Bowl

BY KENNY BRISTOW

Wasatch High School senior quarterback, James Delacenserie received an email a couple of weeks ago asking him to participate in a first-ever game of PAC 12 and other D1 west coast college football recruits.   With several weeks remaining before high school prospects can sign their national letters of intent, Delacenserie decided to look into the game and it’s sponsors.  Even though James narrowed his choices of college programs down to just a couple, he thought it would be fun to accept the invitation and see, first hand, the level of player he will be associated with once he steps onto the college gridiron.

The game took place in the Home Depot Center, best known as the home for the MSL Los Angeles Galaxy, in Carson, California on Sunday, January 27.  Delacenserie didn’t even arrive in southern California until the Friday before giving him only one day of practice reps with his team.  “That was probably the toughest part,” said the All-Conference MVP, “getting the fast-paced no-huddle offense down in such a short time.  But it was a lot of fun, and a great challenge”, he added.

Wasatch quarterback James Delacenserie after the West Coast Bowl in Carson, California.

The website Scout.com touted the South Bay BMW West Coast Bowl as the country’s most unique game featuring top Pac-12 football recruits and other D-1 bound players from the West Coast.   According to Rick Delacenserie, James’ father, James was one of 4 quarterbacks selected to play in the game (the other 3 were from California), and the only player overall invited from Utah.  “Once we committed to him going down there to play, they flew him in and paid all his expenses, and it was a great experience for him,” Rick stated through email.

Delacenserie, who lit up the central Utah skies under Friday night lights this past fall, compiling over 2,700 yards passing and 34 touchdowns, did more than hold his own on the fast track of the Home Depot Center.  Unofficially, the Wasatch County product connected on 11 of 15 passes while alternating series with the Green teams other quarterback.  “The size and speed of the players was so much different,” James said.  “I answered some questions I had for myself about that, so I feel pretty good about playing in the game,” he added. 

With the month of February looming just days away, Delacenserie will soon announce who he will sign with and begin preparation for his journey to the next level… Division I college football.  Stay tuned as James will make his official announcement of college choice in the coming weeks and you’ll be able to read about it here.

Superbowl XLVII

*This was the column I wrote for the Wave this week, but as often happens, it came out a bit too long for the printed page... or should I say a bit too interesting... so it was chopped in half.  Here is that column in it's entirety. 

It is upon us.  The stage is set.  Once the teams who will actually play in the game were determined, it’s all but countdown to kickoff.  The site of the game was chosen years ago.  Commercial airtime was spoken for the week after last year’s game was barely over. The halftime show performer was announced in the summer.  The lines have been posted.  There’s nothing left to do but put the teams on the field.

This year those two teams are the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49’ers.  That’s correct… not a New England Patriot, New York Giant, Pittsburgh Steeler or Green Bay Packer in sight.  This year’s NFL championship game will take place between two teams that have been there before, but have distinctively different histories behind them.  It’s probably why I’m looking forward to this one more than the last two… or three.

The National Football League and its sponsors love nothing more than the big market fan favorite teams to make it to the big dance.  Its guaranteed money.

The Ravens post a little bit of a threat to that notion, but in reality, they have been a very good team and a marketable one for several years now.  Thanks most in part to their all-world linebacker Ray Lewis, who, for better or worse, has been under the bright spotlight the NFL beacons out since he joined the league 15 years ago.  Lewis, aging and slower and less of a factor than ever this past season – or so we thought – already had a Superbowl contending team when he decided to announce that he was retiring at the end of the season.  No matter how or where it ended.  Baltimore hasn’t lost a game since.

The Ravens, dressed in their black and dark purple uniforms, have plenty of thugs on defense to keep their reputation in tact, but it’s their offense that has blossomed and taken them to sites unseen.  Quarterback Joe Flacco, who quietly has been in, and won at least one playoff game every season of his five year career, is poised to break out as a big time QB.  The league wants this.  They need that to happen to validate Jersey Joe even being in this game.   If he falls flat, so does Baltimore as a legitimate contender, not to mention Joe’s agent who is set to renegotiate for the 20 million the Maryland product will be asking for.

They have other studs on the offensive side of the ball worthy of this game.  Ray Rice, their powerful runner who has led the league for the past several seasons in all- purpose rushing yards is a likeable guy worthy of a ring.  Big game wide receiver Torrey Smith, who tragically lost his brother earlier in the season and played a game for the ages on national television the night after his brother’s death to endear himself to throngs of bleeding heart fans, is certainly a candidate for a nice bow to wrap around his season.  Dennis Pitta, a BYU product and starting tight end for the Ravens, is coming into his own and could be a major factor in a game decided by a possession extending catch.

On the other side is the storied San Francisco team.  A mere three years removed from being a laughing stock.  Coached by a Hall of Fame linebacker who was so gifted and intense as a player, that he had no idea how to coach a guy up.  They were a team built on 10 years of solid draft position due to crummy seasons yet had a head coach who only knew how to scream at them because they lacked his all-star ability.  Well, they had it… he just didn’t know how to get it out of them.  So, exit Mike Singletary and enter Jim Harbaugh.  Funny.  Both members of the Chicago Bears in the late 80’s/early 90’s.  One on his way to defensive immortality, the other barely good enough to hold his starting position.

Harbaugh instantly turned the ‘Niners around with his brash, college “we can do it” approach to beefing up his teams pyschy while sticking to his Midwestern “10 yards and a cloud of dust” style of x’s and o’s.  That got him to the championship game last year where his team’s glaring weakness was exposed by the New York Giants.

That weakness was San Frans inability to make the big play and allow defenses to key on their short passing game and their number one weapon, running back Frank Gore.  So Harbaugh jumped at the opportunity to replace quarterback Alex Smith of Utah, with second year man Colin Kaepernick when Smith missed a couple of games with a concussion.  Kaepernick, a promising yet unproven player, broke out in a huge way running and passing from the position in a way that many say they’ve never seen.  Now he’s on the verge of stardom wearing the same uniform as the greatest quarterback to ever Superbowl a Superbowl, Joe Montana.   It could be the 49’ers missing piece to the promised land.

Oh brother… what a juicy bunch of story lines for this Superbowl.  Wait?  Did I just say brother?  Oh yes!  Let’s not forget the biggest storyline of all… the Harbaugh brothers.  I guess I forgot to mention that Jim Harbaugh’s older brother John is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.  Okay… so maybe I didn’t forget, but I wanted to build up the drama because I believe it will be the deciding factor in the game.  The coaching.

John Harbaugh is a player’s coach who inspires his team without fanfare or hoopla.  He is a smart guy with a nose for all aspects of the game.  He is a former special teams coach for heavens sake!  If you can wrap your head around that, you can pretty much handle anything in the NFL I say.  John’s team beat Jim’s team on Thanksgiving last year 16-9.  No revenge for young Jim just yet.  This is big brother’s year.  His team has snared the proverbial lightning in a bottle and they are poised to put a cap on it.  The Ravens will win this Superbowl with a crafty scheme on defense, slowly frustrating young Kaepernick, letting him believe that he’s okay until shutting him down in the red zone forcing the 49’ers to turn to much maligned kicker David Ackers.  Ackers will not be the goat, but the field goals will not be enough to hold up when Flacco hits just enough big passes deep downfield to get the Ravens the touchdowns they need to win the game.

Baltimore Ravens 27   San Francisco 49’ers 23

Back In The Sting Of Things

*This is a re-post of this article with photographs.  Thanks to Kimberly King for supplying these excellent pics of the Wasp grapplers.

Wasatch wrestling gets back on track with a duel meet victory at Uintah and a second place showing at the High Country Classic.

BY KENNY BRISTOW

Last Thursday night, the Wasatch wrestling team headed to Uintah High School to compete in a region duel against the Utes.  The Wasps recorded victories in nine of the 13 weight classes en route to a 43-24 team win.  Five of their nine victories were by pin, with the other four coming on decisions.

Braiden Parker (106), Gage Bradley (113), and Sterling Balliff (120) pinned their opponents for individual wins, as did Logan Huntington (145) and Bryce Provost (160).  Albert Jepperson (138), Spencer Heywood (152) and freshman Ben Boss (195) won their matches on decision.  Robby Miner (126) defeated his opponent with a major decision.

Braiden Parker (106 lbs) making it look easy.

Gage Bradley (113 lbs) goes for a big take down.

Sterling Balliff (120 lbs) giving up nothing in this match.

Logan Huntington (145 lbs) giving it all he's got for the win.

Bryce Provost (160 lbs) applying the finishing touches.

On Saturday, the Wasps joined the field of 13 other high schools to compete in the annual High Country Classic at South Summit High School.  Although a tournament that counts only individual scores and placements, Wasatch compiled a total of 231.5 points to finish with the second highest total behind Syracuse who had 293.5.

Many Wasp grapplers had great finishes at the tournament showing they are wrestling well and getting ready for state.  Senior Robby Miner, continued to improve on his tremendous record this season beating all four of his men and taking first place in the 126 pound class.  Garrett Sweat, who lost his match by close decision two nights before at the Uintah Duel, came back with a vengeance going 4-0 and taking first place in the 132 pound division.

Robby Miner (126 lbs) shows his opponent what's up on his way to a 1st place medal.

Garrett Sweat (132 lbs) shows little mercy as he asks the ref where he can pick up his 1st place medal.

Four other Wasatch wrestlers advanced to their class’ first place bout, but came up just short and took second place finishes.  Senior Sterling Balliff finished his afternoon going 3-1 in the 120 pound class, before a couple of defeats in the consolation rounds evened him up at 3-3.  Balliff was still awarded the second place medal for his outstanding performance.  Logan Huntington, a junior, also had a 3-1 personal record in the tournament taking second place in the 145 pound class.  A pair of sophmores, Spencer Heywood and Jake McNaughton, wrestling at 152 and 170 pounds respectively, took second place medals going 3-1 each for the tournament.

Spencer Heywood (152 lbs) leaves little room to breath for his man.

Freshman Braiden Parker, at 106 pounds and 160-pound senior Bryce Provost had excellent tournaments and grabbed third place finishes in their weight divisions.  Sophmore Matthew Provost and senior Cabit Nye, competing in the 138 and 182 pound classes respectively placed fourth in their classes, while freshman Ben Boss took fifth place in the 195 pound weight division.

The Wasps have a busy week ahead wrapping up their regular season campaign with Park City and Juan Diego coming to Heber for a meet on Senior Night, Wednesday at 7 and 8:00 PM in The Nest.  

PAYBACK!

Wasatch evens the season series with a dominating 

win over Park City 64-49.

BY KENNY BRISTOW

There was no need for last second heroics by a Miners player in last night’s meeting between Wasatch and Park City in The Nest.  That’s what it took the last time these two rivals met and it probably shouldn’t have even come to that. 

Back on January 4^th, in the first meeting of 2013 between them, the visiting Wasps played the home team step for step and took a two point lead into the final seconds when Miner forward Boston VanDerVeur hit a 30 foot Hail Mary at the buzzer to steal the win.  It’s not like these two schools needed any extra incentive to want to kill each other, but a riot nearly broke out after that shot and Wasatch faithful immediately marked January 25^th on their calendars.  That was the date of the rematch in Heber City.

Wasatch, playing much better ball as the season goes on, had won two of it’s last three, with the only loss being another two point gut-wrencher to Juan Diego.  There is a little more confidence on the black and gold bench and it showed again on Friday night in front of a packed gymnasium.  The south end bleachers were a sea of enemy red and the rest of the house was swarming with Wasps.  It was the kind of frenzied environment you would expect for a high school basketball game between despised rivals.

The 6th man came up big for Wasatch in Friday night's win over Park City.

 The game was not pretty from the opening tip.  Missed shots, errant passes, dribbled balls off foots… all with a deafening backdrop of student body chanting.  It wasn’t until three minutes and twenty seconds had ticked off the clock when senior guard Jake Larson broke the ice for Wasatch with a two point mid range jumper.  You would have thought he just hit the shot to win state.  This game meant something to the Wasps.

Once the opening build-up settled down, the Wasps began to find their groove. Wasatch would open up a lead in the 1^st quarter with point contributions from four of their five starters.  Senior Cooper Ballstaedt would convert on and “and-1” and follow that with a three-point jumper.  At the end of the first frame, Wasatch was up 12-7.

Senior guard Cooper Ballstaedt has shown great team leadership down the stretch for the Wasps.

But as easy as the hoop can open up for you, it can close and the home team found it difficult for any shots to fall despite several steal and fastbreak attempts.  Wasatch had gone cold and their defense was getting exposed by Park City’s only line of offense, the three-pointer.  They could not answer the Miner’s Hayden Daily who hit three, of his game leading six, before the half.  When the dust had settled, Park City had tied Wasatch at 23 and left an uneasy feeling in The Nest.

The second half brought on defensive adjustments from Head Coach Lonnie Magnussen.  After allowing the Miners to get their only lead of the night, 27-25 early in the third, it would be short-lived as guard Blake Hanson would hit a three-point bucket on the Wasp’s next possession to regain the lead.  That was the beginning of an offensive tear for Wasatch as they scored on six straight possessions without being answered.  Jake Larson had an “and-1” conversion and a three-point jumper as did junior guard Jeff Murdock during that stretch.  When the third quarter came to an end, the Wasps were up by 13 and the joint was jumping.

This is a blatant sign of disrespect for Wasatch Student Body President and starting center Chris Johnson as he goes up for two of his seven points on the night.

The fourth quarter was played much tighter as the Wasps went to a clock-eating offense.  The Miners could not get the ball inside on Wasatch’s strong defense and could only shoot from long range.  Despite scoring 21 points in the frame, their highest output of the game, the Wasps put in 23.  Their only chance to pull closer  was to foul Wasatch and they chose the wrong player in Cooper Ballstaedt who iced six of six free throws down the stretch to kill any glimpse of a Park City comeback.

Wasatch had three players score in double figures, Ballstaedt, with 15, Larson with 13 and Murdock with 11.  Five others would score for the Wasps including a strong performance off the bench by junior forward Ben Pelo who added 8 points and four rebounds.  Sophmore Nate Dow also grabbed four boards for the home team.

Ballstaedt praised his team’s defense after the game.  “When we can keep the ball out of the lane like we did tonight we can beat anybody,” said the senior.  “It just opens up the scoring for us.  We’ve been working extra hard in practice with different schemes and it’s starting to come together at the right time,” he added.  Coach Magnussen, trying not to exude any over-confidence said, “We’re getting there.”

Wasatch evened up their region record at three wins and three losses.  They have four games left and face a golden opportunity to make up even more ground before the playoffs begin in a little over two weeks.

Despite repeated warnings from the PA announcer and the presence of dozens of Wasatch County law enforcement, jubilant students rush the floor to congratulate their team after the win.  Good sportsmanship prevailed in Heber City, however, as both sides left peacefully without incident.  A great win for all of the Wasp faithful.

Prep Sports

 

No 'roids, rapists or imaginary girlfriends.

I got a phone call the other morning from Sports Illustrated offering me a job as a feature writer.  I had yet to chug any coffee and was extremely groggy from a late night of scribing the evening before.  As it turns out… I was having one of those, I’m awake, but not quite awake yet dreams. Sure seemed real.  Thought the pay would have been a little better, but oh well.  I’m used to it.

That weird little dream, as much as I may want it to come true, is one of those things that you should be careful that you wish for.  You see I’m pretty fortunate here in Heber.  Pretty darn lucky to cover Wasatch High School sports.  Since last July, I’ve gotten to know some really nice kids. A bunch of student athletes who are living their lives to the fullest without the slightest amount of pressure… beyond their home dinner table, that is.

For those of you who do not know – I have a sports blog.  I love to post my thoughts on sports.  In conjunction with that, I am active on twitter… and facebook… and google, and linkedin… and, etc, etc, etc.  I’m into it, but you knew that about me.  One of the drawbacks of being so involved in these sorts of social media is the constant overload of information.

As much as I love sports on all levels, I have to admit even I had my fill this last week.  Not on the games – the games are the payoff – but on the “garbage” that accompanies the games.  The “sludge” that some of our favorite players of these games find themselves wading in.  No sooner than we drop our guard and accept a sports hero into our hearts, so many of them take a sledgehammer to the walls of our inner tickers with hidden secrets of lies, deceit and cheating.  Some, and these are the really sick ones, are involved in the taking of lives.  Awful, hurtful and often permanently damaging visual information left for us to process on a person, who as a professional athlete, we would otherwise worship.

If you’re even trolling this page, chances are you are somewhat in-tune with sports.  Then I won’t bore you with recaps on Lance Armstrong, Manti Te’o or Michael Crabtree.  I suppose, and at least this is true from my view, you would have to have been living under a rock not to know why these three were in the news all last week.

This is why I love prep sports.  Kids whose agents are still their mom and dad.  Students whose friends are still their neighbors.  Athletes whose teammates will remain on their team forever.  Prep sports.  How many of you mothers and fathers regularly look back on your high school volleyball or soccer team photos?  How great is the reunion (and ensuing horrific pick-up game) with your old basketball team?  Prep sports. Probably the only team that you will be a member of forever.

Life has many pitfalls, as we older souls can attest, and the best we can do is educate the young’uns.  Don’t do drugs.  Don’t hang out with the wrong crowd.  Don’t engage in dangerous activity.  We hope for the best and we worry like crazy.  But the world is a harsh place.  Not everyone is from a nice community like Wasatch.  Not all kids have the benefit of family and friends and a good school as they grow up.  And after we have raised ours in this atmosphere, they go out into the world to take their place in diversity.  We can only hope that our influence will keep them strong.  Keep them with the understanding that to be the best in your sport does not include taking performance enhancing drugs.  To find love is no different than for anyone on Earth.  A “groupie” can and will not love you as much as a young man or woman who never saw you play.  A “friend” who gives you a pistol to protect yourself because you are becoming a “popular dude on campus” is probably not a real friend.

Most prep athletes would like to think they can carry on participating in their sport in college.  With today’s growing university progams, counseling and coaching, it is more possible than ever.  It is a very attainable dream – and one to be gone after.

The key is to keep it “prep like”.  Stay grounded.  If a kid is destined for greatness on the field, then greatness will find him through hard work and determination.  If that kid is not destined for greatness on the field, then I’ll bet, if they remain true to who they are, they will achieve greatness in other aspects of life.  This is why I love and have tremendous respect for prep sports and it’s coaches.

Tonight, I will dream of someday getting that call from Sports Illustrated.  But I will remain true to how I got that call.  Prep sports.

Wasatch Putting It All Together

Defense is the key in the Wasps 14 point victory

over visiting Union.

BY KENNY BRISTOW

Last Friday night, at Juan Diego, the Wasatch boy’s basketball team added to their league leading heartbreaking loss.  While that stat is unofficial, ask any player or parent of a player on this year’s varsity squad, and they will chime in something along those lines.  It’s been a year of not closing the deal.  The team knows it and the fans know it.  Fortunately, for Wasatch, there is still time to put it all together as they did on Tuesday night on their home court against the visiting Union Cougars, winning 48-34.

Relying on a defensive scheme they believed would be foolproof against Union, the Wasps frustrated their opponent from the opening tip.  Problem was, the black and gold were failing to get it going on offense themselves.  It wasn’t until a minute and a half into the game that a basket was scored.  That basket came at the hands of Sophmore forward, Nate Dow, who game after game is showing his leadership skills as they grow before our eyes.  Dow actually scored the Wasp’s first four points and blocked a huge shot that lead to a Cooper Ballstaedt bucket cementing the lead they would not relinquish.  Once hot-handed guard Jackson Gordon came off the bench at the two-minute mark and pumped in a fast five points, it appeared this would be Wasatch’s night.

Senior Chris Johnson gets Wasatch off to a good start going high for the tip.

But as has been the storyline for the Wasps this year, the Cougars came charging back.  Outscoring the suddenly tentative home team two points to eight, Union knotted up the score at 13 before Head Coach Lonnie Magnussen frustratingly called a timeout.  This moment was the key to the game.

After taking the floor again and trading buckets, senior guard, Blake Hansen hit a three-pointer that seemed to ignite the Wasps.  They gave up a quick score to Union right after that, but with the final minute ticking off before the half, Dow and senior Jake Larson scored on fast break layups.  Both came on steals and subsequent assists by Ballstaedt. The Wasps seemed to have weathered a storm that has wrecked their shores all season long.  They went into the break up 22-17, but more importantly it was a lead they refused to give up.

Guard Jake Larson looks for an open man.  Wasatch did a great job passing the ball the entire game.

Wasatch came out for the second half right where they left off, playing a well-paced game with very few turnovers.  They kept their five-point margin with thief-like defense, stealing the ball, running the floor and finishing with layups.  An early quarter furry by junior guard Jeff Murdock, who was coming off the flu just two nights before, kept the swagger in the home team’s game.  By the end of the third frame, the Wasps had opened up a nine-point advantage.

A perfectly played fourth quarter sealed the deal for Wasatch on this night.  Getting more point contributions from Dow, Gordon and Murdock made it impossible for the Cougars to fight their way back into the game eventually succumbing to the black and gold 48-34.

The Wasp defense was tenacious as seen here as Nate Dow snares one of his six steals.  Senior Austin Harward blocks on the play as Jackson Gordon looks on.

Coach Magnussen was complimentary of his team expressing how they have matured during some of the rough stretches of the season.  “I reminded them of what we came to do,” said the coach when asked what he said to his team during that crucial timeout after Union had tied the score.  “We just kept our tempo… played our game.  We didn’t want to get caught up in the other guy making some shots,” Magnussen said.  “Once we got through that and stayed settled down, we were fine.”

Murdock, who led his team in scoring on the night with 12 points, reiterated the words of his coach.  “We worked up a new zone defense that would allow us to shut them down and keep us in our game,” said the junior guard.  “I knew right away that we were faster than them and told the guys… if we just stay tough on d, then we could outrun them.”

Point guard Jeff Murdock led the Wasps scoring attack with 12 points. The junior was six of eight from the line.

Senior Cooper Ballstaedt launches a three-point shot.

Gordon was strong off the bench in the win.  He was all over the court scoring 10 points and recording five steals.  He was also a catalyst in igniting his team’s energy sinking two timely three-pointers.  Ballstaedt also contributed five steals to go along with his team leading four assists.

Nate Dow, who added 10 points and five rebounds along with six steals was humble in victory afterwards.  “I love this team.  We’re a fun team.  All the guys, the coaches… it may not show in the record, but we’re good,” said the sophmore.  “We’re getting better from the tough losses,” he added.  “State is still there for us and I believe we can do it.  We say ‘one team, one dream’ and I believe that all the way.”

Lady Wasps Dominant Over Union

Nine players score for Wasatch, lead by Rebecca MaWhinney 

who recorded another double-double with 23 points 

and 11 rebounds.

BY KENNY BRISTOW

The Wasatch girl’s basketball team earned their 12^th overall win of the season Tuesday night against the visiting Lady Cougars of Union High School.  The victory was also the Wasp’s fourth in Region 10 keeping them firmly locked into a first place tie.

Head Coach Tom Perkins used this game to test some of his bench players as nine Lady Wasps put at least one point on the board.  And although, this will be considered a strong team win, it was senior guard Rebecca MaWhinney who once again stole the show.  MaWhinney, who is committed to go to school and play ball for Utah Valley University next year, scored 23 points for the second game in a row.  She hit three, three-point baskets, recorded four steals along with four assists and was stingy underneath grabbing 11 rebounds.  It is tough to overlook such dominating individual performance by a single player, but there was a lot to learned as a team in this one for Wasatch.

The black and gold fell to Juan Diego last Friday night in Draper, in a winnable game where the Wasps could not seem to hit their stride.  This was not the case against Union however as the ladies from Wasatch jumped out early and never relented.  MaWhinney, playing as though she had something to prove, was scorching hot from the tip scoring the game’s first 11 points.

“It’s really all about good preparation,” said MaWhinney afterwards when asked if she is aware of how well she is playing for her team.  “When we play confident, we can win… and that comes from being prepared,” she added.  “I like where we are as a team right now, but we know there are teams that want to come in here and beat us down the stretch.  So, we just have to be ready.”

Strong contributions from bench players like Sadie Sweat #4 have helped keep the Lady Wasps running...

...and gunning.  Here the junior guard finishes up a fastbreak off a steal with the lay in.

After taking a commanding 20-4 lead into the second quarter, Perkins decided it was time to work his team into more rotations.  “We wanted to focus on eliminating the mistakes that cost us games against the Juan Diego’s,” Perkins said.  “We know we can score, but there are other aspects we need to work on like our inside game.  Losing Riley (Gagon) has hurt us underneath, so we’ve stressed that others need to step-up there.  I was proud of our defense and ball movement tonight,” the coach added.  “We feel like we’re in a good position now, but want to keep improving.”

Senior Renee Fagg has been one of the dominant players on the boards for Wasatch.  Along with her consistent scoring in the paint, she is one of the ladies top rebounders.  She scored 10 points and had five rebounds to go with her three assists and two steals.  Starting point guard Ashlyn Coleman, despite being only a sophmore, continues to have strong games.  She added 10 points of her own with four rebounds,, four assists and a pair of steals.  Hailey Hardman has done a great job picking up slack and this game was no different.  The junior picked up five points to go along with her seven rebounds.  Tristin Bills has also been a reliable source of points the past few games.  The junior guard added nine points in the win Tuesday night.

Junior guard Hailey Hardman displays nice touch as she goes up over a Union defender for two of her five points.

Tristin Bills has had some big games lately.  Her aggressive play gets her to the charity stripe often, seen here putting in one of her nine points on the night.

The Wasps kept the Cougars guessing all night with their crisp passing and protection of the ball.  18 team assists is proof of that, and testimony that the Lady Wasps have the ability to hit on all cylinders from start to finish.  Perhaps all the way to a state championship.

Wasps Not So Ready To Rumble

Despite uncontrollable events leaving the squad without much sting at the Rocky Mountain Rumble, Sophmore Spencer Heywood took to the mat with Wasatch on his back and made the entire community proud on a very emotional weekend.

BY KENNY BRISTOW

Wave Sports Writer

The Wasatch Wasp wrestling team has been on a nice roll.  They recently had excellent showings at Bear River and at a duel in Morgan.  With more than a week in between meets, the grapplers from Wasatch thought they would have a little extra time to heal from some injuries and to get over some nasty flu bugs before competing in one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the western United States, The Rocky Mountain Rumble.  Then tragedy set in.

The Rumble began Friday night with a few of the Wasp’s top regulars out with illness, including December’s Wrestler of the Month, Robby Miner.  Coach Wade Discher and his staff would have to piece together a squad to fill the holes to avoid numerous forfeits.  The ones who were healthy, however, namely Garrett Sweat, Spencer Heywood, Jake McNaughton, amongst others, were wrestling hard and having some pretty good results.  Sweat was undefeated on the first night of the duel.

At approximately 5:00 PM on Friday night, shortly after the Rumble had started, two young brothers, Coleman and Trevan Sweat, well known in the Wasatch High School wrestling community, were fatally wounded in an avalanche.   Sweat was closely related to the victims, while McNaughton was a nearby friend and neighbor.  The news did not reach the participants until after the night’s events, but it would affect the meet for the Wasps for the following day.  A few of the Wasp wrestlers were unable to go on the second day due to the tragedy.

Spencer Heywood gets airborne as he pounces on one of his opponents.

Able to muster the strength to fight on for his team, however, Sophmore Spencer Heywood, wrestling at 152 lbs., was the story of the tournament.  He took the mat for his final match of the first night just shortly after the sad news had spread throughout his team.  On Saturday, after fighting his way into the later rounds, he eventually lost a quadruple overtime match to the number 3 seed (A high school all-American from Idaho) and lost to a 3-time state champ 5-4 in the consolation semi's.  Spencer ended up taking 5th place overall in his weight class and according to his coach, Wade Discher, “is right there among the elite kids.”  Discher added that, “Spencer wrestled his guts out.”

Spencer has been having a very good season thus far and his toughness at the Rumble against some of the best grapplers in the area defined that.  “I feel pretty good about the way things have been going this year,” said Heywood.  “Last year was a little nerve-racking… being just a freshman and having to fill-in.  But Coach didn’t baby me or anything and just started putting me out there,” he added with a chuckle.  “I’m glad he did because it’s helped me a lot this year.”

Uncle!  Uncle!  There was no quit in Spencer Heywood at the Rocky Mountain Rumble.

Saturday was Spencer’s 16^th birthday.  According to Kimberly King, mother of Garrett Sweat and aunt of the two young boys who lost their lives, Spencer was very humble with his finish and only expressed concern for others who were grieving.  “Saturday was Spencer’s birthday and he mentioned nothing about it!,” King said.  “He only asked me how I was doing.  What an incredible young man.  We are all so proud of him.”  

I'm proud to be a Colonel dad!

When I sent my son off to faraway Thibodaux, Louisiana at the end of last summer, it was safe to say I had a few concerns.  He was basically putting his college athletic career in the hands of a couple of guys he played summer ball with and a coach who only knew him by telephone.  Scary.  But, no more so than taking the mound, needing only one out, with your team up by a run, in the bottom of the 8th inning with two runners on.  So has become the life of my son, Jesse.
As followers of my blog, "In A Nutshell", you will be succumbed to many more posts that are about this kid and his college baseball team, the Nicholl's State Colonels, this coming spring.  I am a proud father and will always support my son's pitching endeavors no matter where they lead him.  I've always said, my favorite team is the team Jesse is playing for.  I'm happy to say, that that team is Nicholl's State.  Geaux Colonels!!

http://www.geauxcolonels.com/news/2013/1/19/BB_0119132012.aspx?path=baseball&utm_source=Jan.+22%2C+2013+Newsletter&utm_campaign=Nicholls+Colonels+Newsletter&utm_medium=email

Wasatch can't get'er done at Juan Diego

Boys and girls both lose tough games on the road at 
Juan Diego Friday night.

BY KENNY BRISTOW
Wave Sports Writer

The Wasatch Wasps of Heber City loaded up their buses for Draper on Friday night with both their boys and girls varsity basketball squads set to take on Region 10 rival Juan Diego.

In the lady's game, which began at 5:15, Wasatch came out slowly and could not overcome a five point first quarter output despite outscoring the Soaring Eagle in both the second and third quarters.
Juan Diego never let the Wasps gain any momentum and kept them at bay throughout.  Wasatch was down only three going into the final frame making it an exciting fourth quarter, but Juan Diego would hold on for the 51-45 win.

Senior guard Rebecca MaWhinney, the second leading scorer in 3A put in 23 points in the losing effort for Wasatch.

The victory for the Soaring Eagle knotted up the standings in 3A at 3-1 records for Judge Memorial, Wasatch and Juan Diego.  Park City is one game behind at 2-2.  Wasatch is in good position to finish strong in region play, hosting Union and Park City this coming week.

In the following game, the boys team from Wasatch suffered another close defeat, this time by two points to the Soaring Eagle.  The Wasps got off to a hot start, but allowed the home team to tie up the score at halftime at 30.  Even though Wasatch put on a good second half effort to keep it close, and perhaps steal the win in the fourth, Juan Diego held on for the two point victory.

Sophmore Nate Dow continued his strong play for Wasatch leading the team in scoring with 11 points on 100% shooting from the floor.  Jake Larson, a senior guard for the Wasps, contributed 10 points in the loss.

The Wasps have games at home against Union and Park City this week in hopes of improving their standings in the conference.  Wasatch is currently 1-4 in Region 10.

Mad Mouse The Unnatural More Relevant Than Ever

There is something going on in the world of sports right now that is very relative to Mad Mouse The Unnatural, my first graphic novel in the Mad Mouse series.  This book was completed over a year ago and first published in a limited manner by my friend Dan Fogel of Hippy Comix.  The reason I'm bringing it to the attention of my In A Nutshell audience, is that the book's subject matter is based on the steroid controversies that have made their way to the front page from just the sports page.

The central character, Mad Mouse, is a sports writer for a second tier newspaper in a major metropolis. He is assigned to cover the alleged performance enhancing drug use by one of professional baseball's biggest stars, Jimmy Jack Mouse. As the story unfolds, we, along with Mad, question why he was selected to cover the controversy over many more "qualified" journalists.  

Without giving too much away - because, hell yes, I want you to buy a copy and read it and love it so much that you read it again - it turns out that Mad was hand-picked by Jimmy Jack himself.  Why, you ask?   Perhaps along the same reasoning that former 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong chose Oprah Winfrey to give his "confessional" interview.   Very manipulative, I might say.
 

Sure, it's a wacky comic strip telling the story, but whether or not you're a fan of pro sports or a follower of large scale media and the wag the dog reputation some of it has taken on, you can't help but see how Mad Mouse The Unnatural is as relative a story in that vein that you'll ever read. 
 

Contact me and we'll see how we can get you an autographed copy.

Cover of my graphic novel, which is based on the relationship of a sports journalist and a professional baseball player accused of using performance enhancing drugs.

A 2-page spread showing Mad Mouse arriving on the scene to interview his first witness.

Mad Mouse has many unscrupulous friends who bring conflict - and humor - to The Unnatural...

...none more so than Mad's teenage daughter, Baby Girl and his best friend, Trouble.

Tension is high when Mad arrives to the locker room after a game, amongst a throng of relentless reporters, all jealous of his being chosen for the exclusive chance to interview superstar slugger Jimmy Jack Mouse.

To see more images from Mad Mouse, visit the fan page at:  

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mad-Mouse/225778127496298