HEAVY METTLE

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Wasatch gets on top of Juan Diego and doesn’t let up, winning at home 61-55

BY KENNY BRISTOW

Wave Sports Writer

After last night’s game, Wasatch senior guard Cooper Ballstaedt said, “I can’t believe we lost to these guys earlier in the year…”  “I can’t believe we lost to a lot of the teams we have,” he added.  Oh, how a four game winning streak can change the culture of a team.

Friday night in The Nest, the Wasatch varsity boy’s basketball team cut another notch in their belts, beating the Soaring Eagle of Juan Diego 61-55 in impressive fashion.  At times it wasn’t pretty and it sure got frustrating in the second half, but the Wasps withstood the over-the-top physical play by the visitors.

Senior Chris Johnson had a big game in the paint scoring 15 points and grabbing 5 rebounds while leading his team to the win over Juan Diego.

Coming off three consecutive region wins, Wasatch took the court trying to avenge their loss in Draper two weeks ago by only two points.  That was another game the Wasps felt they should have won, but let slip away.  It may be the turning point game in the Wasp season, because they haven’t loss since.  And they are playing the past couple of weeks as though they’ve had their fill of losing. 

The Soaring Eagle opened up a six point lead midway through the first quarter, but Wasatch stuck to their game plan and closed the gap to 12-9.  Then the black and gold offense began to feed off their defense and came roaring back to tie it up at 15.  The two squads traded buckets until the 2:50 mark in the first half when Wasatch took its first lead at 21-20 on a layup by senior big man Chris Johnson.  After a Juan Diego three pointer tied it up at 23, the rest of the first half scoring came from the foul line.  Sophmore Nate Dow and Junior Casey Peterson both hit two of two opportunities to keep their team in the lead.  As the clock ticked down under 10 seconds, Wasatch took possession with a one point lead and set up senior Jake Larson in the left corner who smoked the net with a three pointer as time ran out.

Guard Jake Larson finishes up a one-handed pop-shot. The senior scored 5 points in the Wasp win including his team's only three pointer.

Wasatch opened up their lead early in the second half with strong inside play from Johnson and Dow and the Wasp guards continually found lanes in the paint to either pass off or take to the hoop themselves.  Wasatch played tough defense forcing turnovers and converting them into points.  The biggest Wasp lead came after junior Ben Pelo blocked a shot that was picked up by Jackson Gordon who ran it to the hoop for an exciting breakaway bucket.  The Wasps were up by eight at the end of the third quarter and in control of the game.

Junior Ben Pelo has played well off the bench for Wasatch during their 4 game winning streak.

Jackson Gordon completes a fastbreak with a textbook layup after a Wasp blocked shot.

The Soaring Eagle felt at this point their only chance to get back in the game was to take chances by throwing their bodies into the Wasatch players.  Reaching around, pushing in the back and slaps to the arms were often no-calls and forced turnovers by the Wasps allowing the visitors to tighten the score to 49-47 with a little over two minutes left in the game.  The battle had been taken to the charity stripe and the team who could convert their chances was going to come out on top.

A technical foul after a hard foul to guard Jeff Murdock gave the Wasps a chance at four freebies.  Ballstaedt hit one of two and Murdock converted on both putting Wasatch ahead 52-47.  A quick Juan Diego turnover lead to another Johnson bucket underneath and the Wasps had regained the sizeable lead necessary to hold off the Soaring Eagle who could only continue to foul.  Dow and Murdock both converted on two of two’s in the final minute to seal the deal for Wasatch and deliver the win.

Point guard Jeff Murdock, quick as a flash, keeps this one for himself and drives for two of his 14 points.

Nate Dow makes a strong pass from the top of the key.  The sophmore continues to impress as a Wasp starter.

Coach Lonnie Magnusson attributes the wins to his team’s newfound confidence.  “We’re gelling at the right time for sure,” Magnusson said.  “The guys are now believing they can win and not doing the things that cost us games earlier in the year,” he added.  “It’s been a great learning experience for all of us.” 

Head Coach Lonnie Magnusson, barely visible while surrounded by his team, gives spirited instructions during a timeout in the closing minutes.  Magnusson has done a masterful job keeping his team focused and playing hard as they have turned their season around in the past four weeks.

As they have done throughout their turnaround, the Wasps have played team basketball with nine players contributing on the scoreboard in this one.  Chris Johnson led the Wasps with 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.  Jeff Murdock poured in 14 points and had three assists.  Nate Dow was the third Wasatch player to score in double figures with 10 points.  The sophmore also added four boards and blocked two shots.  Cooper Ballstaedt scored seven points and Jake Larson added five.  Ben Pelo had five rebounds and a blocked shot off the bench for the home team.

Wasatch moves to a second place tie in the region with a chance to lock up that standing next week.  Although that won’t be easy, since the Wasps take on first place Judge Memorial at home then travel to Union to finish off the regular season.