Prep basketball: Knights meet demise in 5-A
quarters
THURSDAY , MARCH 01, 2012 - 9:32 PM
Northridge's Joe Newkirk looks at the ground during the final minutes of the Northridge versus Lone [Peak game]
WEST VALLEY CITY -- There was no room for underdogs in the top half of the state 5-A boys
basketball tournament bracket.
Region 1 champion Northridge battled gamely with highly-touted Lone Peak on Thursday
evening at the Maverik Center, but a cold shooting night doomed the Knights, who fell 55-36 in
the tournament quarterfinals.
Lone Peak advances to meet Region 3 champion West Jordan at 5:30 p.m. in today's semifinals.
Preston Christensen scored a dozen points to lead Northridge (14-9 overall), which ended up
shooting just 30 percent from the field on the night.
Northridge controlled the tempo for much of the first two periods, and used a slow-down passing
attack late in the second quarter to reel the southern Knights back to within striking distance,
trailing at 21-18 at the break.
Midway through the third quarter, after Lone Peak built its lead to near double digits again,
Northridge coach Chad Sims tried the same slow-down attack. This time, however, the Knights
were unable to connect on their shots and the lead ballooned at the end.
Joe Newkirk and Kyler Dearden each added six points. Newkirk was active in the paint,
snagging 10 rebounds and altering numerous Lone Peak shots.
Northridge, which went 8-2 in Region 1 to capture the league title, made it to the state
quarterfinals behind seven seniors. The Knights defeated Copper Hills in overtime in the first
round.
T.J. Haws led Lone Peak with 16 points, Nick Emery added 15, Talon Shumway scored 10 and
Chase Hansen added seven points and 11 board.
In the early 5-A quarterfinal games, a pair of schools that finished third and fourth in their
respective regions stormed into the state 5-A semifinals.
Riverton whipped Alta 65-45, and Brighton knocked off Region 4 champion American Fork 5953. The winners will meet at 5:30 p.m.
Today's state 4-A semis are chock full of favorites.
Provo and Olympus meet at 2:15 p.m., followed by Orem vs. Bountiful at 4 p.m. Olympus, Orem
and Bountiful are region champs, with Provo finishing second to Orem.
http://www.standard.net/Sports/2012/03/02/Prep-basketball-Knights-meet-demise-in-5-A-quarters.html
(With this article, there was a gallery of photos that especially showed bias—such as our crowd looking feral while their crowd
had painted faces and smiles. All of the pictures showed the other team with the ball and us running after them or guarding them.
Another shot showed their coach yelling at the refs as if there had been a bad call. Another photos showed the legs of their
cheerleaders, with painting/words on their calves. I can’t locate the pictures anymore. These were the original websites I used:
http://www.standard.net/slideshows/2012/03/01/prep-basketball-northridge-vs-lone-peak-march-1-2012
http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/03/01/prep-basketball-knights-meet-demise-5-quarters.)
There’s a larger gallery on the next article—I perhaps could recreate.
High school basketball: Lone Peak advances
despite rough first half
By Trevor Phibbs, Deseret News
Published: Thursday, March 1 2012 11:02 p.m. MST
WEST VALLEY CITY — Lone Peak knows how to win high-stakes games in the
state tournament.
It wasn't the typical dominating performance the defending state champions
usually deliver, however, the result was the same. The Knights limped to three
points in the second quarter, attempted one free throw the entire first half and
shot 5-of-23 from 3-point land, collectively.
Yet Lone Peak still managed to record the 56-36 win over Northridge in the 5A
quarterfinals at the Maverik Center Thursday night.
"I think one thing that was important is we got the lead early," said Lone Peak
coach Quincy Lewis. "They did slow it down and I don't think that necessarily
hurt us on the defensive end, (but) offensively we got a little bit out of rhythm.
We didn't play as smart as we needed to in the second quarter; then in the
second half we really turned it on."
The Knights (20-3) outscored Northridge 35-18 in the second half to clinch a
spot in the 5A semifinals against West Jordan at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Lone Peak, leading 9-5 in the first quarter, looked out of rhythm. With the
ball, the Knights quickly tossed contested long-range shots and rimmed out
multiple point-blank looks.
It wasn't until sophomore T.J. Haws caught fire that there was sign of any life
offensively.
Haws, an unsung court general, scored seven straight points on a quick layup,
a pull-up 3-pointer and a break-away bucket to give Lone Peak the 18-8
advantage after the first eight minutes.
"I just tried to take it to the basket a little more to start the game," said Haws,
who finished with a game-high 16 points, five rebounds and four steals. "That
helped with my outside shot, got me going a little bit."
Then things got ugly.
Northridge (14-9) upped its defensive intensity, but more importantly started
executing with the ball by emphasizing ball-control and patience.
The northern Knights held Lone Peak to three points and finished the quarter
on a 7-0 run behind Preston Christensen, the only Northridge player to eclipse
double figures (12), to pull within three points at halftime.
During the stretch, Lone Peak willingly settled for outside shots and hurried
possessions. In the first half, the Knights attempted one free throw that came
courtesy of team fouls rather than drawing contact.
"We felt like, 'hey, we can get 3s and we still want to shoot them but there has
to be a balance,'" said Lewis.
Nick Emery, the second-leading scorer in 5A and the state leader in 3-pointers
per game, was ice-cold. In the first half, the BYU commit shot an abysmal 1for-7 with three points.
"He went through a stretch where he just settled for jump shots," Lewis said of
Emery. "Again, it's a situation of balance. It's not that I don't want him taking
those shots, but there has to be a balance to it."
Emery finished 6-of-18 for 15 points and 1-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Because Lone Peak's rhythm offensively appeared out of whack its defense
carried the load. The Knights forced 20 Northridge turnovers which translated
to 26 points.
"We work on getting in the gap and trying to jump those passing lanes," Haws
said.
Chase Hansen, a do-all-the-dirty-work type player, was assigned the task of
guarding Northridge's leading scorer, Karson Casteel.
He certainly answered the calling. Hansen limited Casteel to two points on the
night with only four looks at the hoop all while establishing position on the
block.
"I just tried to keep him out of the paint the best I could — not just me, we had
a lot of guys rotating on him," said Hansen after finishing with seven points
and 11 boards with seven coming off the offensive glass. "We knew what type
of threat he was and we had a good game plan."
"The kid's a warrior," Lewis added of Hansen.
The Knights from the south came out on a tangent, nose to the grindstone,
determined to get to the cup in the second half. The mentality made all the
difference.
Talon Shumway reached the free-throw line with 5:50 remaining in the third
quarter. It was the first drawn shooting foul of the game. Lone Peak finished 7for-7 from the charity stripe in the second half.
Behind Haws and Emery, the Knights extended the lead to double digits, 3827, after three quarters.
With the game threatening to get out of hand after Shumway finished on
another fast-break layup, Hansen, not known for his offensive ability, closed
the book on Northridge.
Lone Peak's Brody Berry crossed his defender at the top of the key but quickly
found his path trapped, as a result he yo-yo'd across the baseline and skipped
a one-bounce pass to Hansen — whom was all alone, nesting at the wing.
Hansen calmly twined the 3-pointer to give the Knights the 43-27 lead with
5:21 remaining in regulation.
"It was awesome — it doesn't happen often," Hansen said. "When I (have) an
open shot Coach (Lewis) tells me not to hesitate. Luckily, it fell and I was glad
I could give our team a boost."
The following picture was at the top, but I had trouble formatting it correctly:
Lone Peak's Chase Hansen and Talon Shumway surround
Northridge's Jesse Armistead during the 5A boys basketball quarterfinal game in Salt Lake City Thursday, March 1,
2012. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765555823/High-school-basketball-Lone-Peak-advances-despite-rough-firsthalf.html?pg=1
Attached photos included these two as well:
Lone Peak's Brody Berry battles with Northridge's Joe Newkirk
during the 5A boys basketball quarterfinal game in Salt Lake City Thursday, March 1, 2012. (Jeffrey D. Allred,
Deseret News)
These were the main 3 attached photos, but there is an attached gallery of 20+ photos we could look at as well if we
want to.
Lone Peak's Brody Berry takes the charge from Northridge's
Preston Christensen during the 5A boys basketball quarterfinal game in Salt Lake City Thursday, March 1, 2012.
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)