TAYLORSVILLE — It is a brave new world for Wil Carter.
The sophomore forward plays a much different role for Salt Lake Community College this season than the one he filled as a freshman. At that point in time, Carter could operate in the shadow of ex-Utah State star Gary Wilkinson and avoid attracting the degree of pressure and expectations that Wilkinson routinely faced.
This season — his first back on the basketball court after serving an LDS mission — is a much different story. Now Carter is the one whom SLCC looks to as its primary post presence.
He is doing well since gaining an expanded role. Through 21 games, Carter is averaging 12.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals while playing just 21.1 minutes per game.
Carter, from Pocatello, Idaho, said he has undergone a significant maturation both physically and mentally since his first season and credits that with helping him having a bigger impact as a sophomore.
"I see the game a lot better," Carter said. "My freshman year I was really spotty. I would show up one night and play well and the next night I wouldn't. It was really off like that. But this year I've been a lot more consistent. I put up bigger numbers — both scoring and rebounding — and it's just been better all the way around."
One definite change Carter made to his game coming into his sophomore season was to focus his efforts on becoming an all-around presence for the Bruins.
He has worked on holding down the post with fellow sophomore forward Sol Jensen. Such efforts have included expanding his offensive repertoire so he can be a reliable scorer.
On the defensive side of things, collecting more rebounds, forcing steals, holding his position on the block and avoiding foul trouble became areas of focus from day one.
SLCC coach Norm Parrish pointed to Carter's drive to both improve and expand his game as a key factor in turning him into one of the best players from a statistical standpoint for the Bruins. He is a team leader in rebounding and ranks second in both points and steals.
"We don't have to motivate him," Parrish said. "He knows what he wants and he plays very hard. He's aggressive. Cares a great deal about our success and his success."
SWITCHING POSITIONS: Playing point guard is a task Snow College forward Amanda Farish had not done since she played at Lone Peak. Still, with usual starting point guard Abbie Beutler sitting out because of an injury when the Badgers faced the College of Eastern Utah on Saturday, it fell upon the shoulders of Farish to run the team's offense.
Her switch from power forward proved to be a successful one. Farish scored six points and dished out six assists to help Snow edge the Eagles for a 69-66 victory.
Their victory over CEU gave the Badgers (17-6, 8-5) a fourth consecutive win and it was their ninth victory overall in their last 10 games.
PERFECT NO LONGER: After taking over sole possession of first place in the Pac West Conference last week, Dixie State surrendered its lead after just one game when the Red Storm lost to Grand Canyon 82-80 in Phoenix on Saturday night.
It also brought a six-game winning streak to an end for Dixie State (12-4, 6-1) and dropped the Red Storm a half-game behind first-place Hawaii Pacific.
Seeds for a Grand Canyon victory were sown on the offensive glass and at the free throw line. The Antelopes (10-13, 4-3) collected 20 offensive boards compared to a mere seven for Dixie State and shot 12 more free throws than the Red Storm, making good on six of those attempts.
It ended up being the major difference in a game where Dixie State shot 28-of-46 from the field (60.9 percent) and went 16-of-20 (80 percent) from the free throw line.
e-mail: jcoon@desnews.com