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.