SPRINGVILLE — The packed atmosphere was everything you’d hope it would be in a matchup between ranked rivals Springville and Maple Mountain. The game, however, didn’t live up to the hype — but given the circumstances, few expected anything different.
Earlier in the week, Maple Mountain had four seniors permanently removed from the team for violating unspecified district and team rules, and Springville took advantage of the shorthanded Golden Eagles from the outset, cruising to the easy 54-36 victory for the two-game cushion in the Region 8 standings.
Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the game, Springville coach Justin Snell was really pleased with how his team approached the game for its 10th straight win.
“Maple is still really good. I would say they still finish second in our league, but it’s going to take them some time to figure themselves back out, but they’re still really good,” said Snell. “For us, it was making sure the focus was where it was supposed to be, not on who we play but on the fact we had to take a step forward today regardless of who we played.”
Defensively was where Springville really dominated. Snell thought the balance between his team’s interior defense and perimeter defense was best it’s been all year, and it showed as Maple Mountain only made 9 of 41 field goals (22%) and only 3 of 21 3-pointers (14%).
He credited 6-foot-9 big man Zach Visentin for protecting the rim even as Maple Mountain tried to pull him out to the perimeter defensively.
Offensively, Visentin scored a season-low six points — a dozen below his average — but Maple Mountain’s focus defensively allowed other players to step up.
Paul Terry recorded 14 points on a pair of 3-pointers while Cooper Riggs added 12 points on two 3-pointers.
It was Terry’s two 3-pointers in the second quarter that started to stretch Springville’s lead, which ballooned to 28-16 by halftime. It never dipped below double figures the rest of the game.
“For us, tonight was all about if you choose to take (Zach) away, we have other players. If we have an option, we’re obviously going to run through a 6-foot-9 guy, but if you’re going to run two or three people at him, our other guys are going to step up and play which they did really well tonight,” said Snell.
Springville pushed its lead to as much as 23 points in the fourth quarter before Maple Mountain scored a couple of late buckets with everyone’s back-ups in the game.
During Springville’s 10-game winning streak, which came after dropping three straight games against tough competition in mid-December, Snell said the leadership from his eight contributing seniors has been great.
“We’re just going to roll with them and see how it goes,” said Snell.