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Templar Dave Hugentobler makes a strong move to the basket in a losing effort last week. Manti head coach Mark Hugentobler said the 50-55 loss was a “season defining” game.

Manti wins two out of three last week
By Bob Bahlmann
1-16-08

MANTI—The Manti Templars played three basketball games last week, losing a tough one on the road to South Sevier, 55-50, and then dominating San Juan and Grand, 72-46 and 90-25, at home.
Even though the Templars lost to the Rams on Wednesday, coach Mark Hugentobler felt like the contest was a “season-defining game.”
One plus for Manti was the play of point guard Callan Jones. “He saw what the defense would give us and took advantage of it,” said Hugentobler. Jones also showed he could be a real scoring threat, shooting 63 percent from the field on his way to 13 points.
The Templars also showed composure in a close game that had some lopsided officiating. Manti only made seven trips to the charity stripe compared to 22 by the Rams.
“They stayed focused and didn’t give up,” Hugentobler said about his team members.
The two teams were matched well, and game stats showed the numbers pretty equal in all categories except free-throw attempts.
Tylan Jackson led Manti with 18 points, Jones had 13, David Hugentobler scored nine, Griffin Aste had eight and Nick Brown made a pair of free throws.
On Friday Manti hosted the San Juan Broncos, a team that played what might be the easiest pre-season of any 2A team. The Broncos looked impressive on paper, but they were no match for Manti.
The Templars jumped out to a 16-4 first quarter lead and then shot a blistering 73 percent in the third, which made it possible for everyone on the team to get some game time.
Manti dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Broncos 41-19. The Templar defense held a good-shooting San Juan team to only 26 percent from the field.
Russ Hugentobler came off the bench and shot 66 percent from three-point land, putting 21 points on the board. Jackson had 20 and Aste scored 13. Brown was perfect from the field and the line for seven points. Jens Howe hit a pair of buckets for four points, Chase Barrus had three, while Dave Hugentobler and Jones had two each.
On Saturday, the Grand Red Devils took the floor against the Templars, and as expected, Manti took control of the game early and never looked back.
By the end of three quarters the Templars were ahead 77-25, and the final period was played by the second and third string. Although they didn’t match the starters’ point production, they did score 13 points and held Grand scoreless for the final eight minutes.
Manti had 33 rebounds compared to 13 for Grand and had 16 points off boards, 29 off turnovers and 22 on fast breaks.
Aste had 23 points, only two less than the entire Red Devil team. Russ Hugentobler had 19, Dave Hugentobler scored 16 and Jackson had 13. Nick Brown had six; Howe joined Kyle Moore and Zach Bown with three each. Barrus and Jackie Brown had two each.
The Templars are on a roll and hope that the momentum will carry through this week as they travel to Richfield on Wednesday and then host South Sevier on Friday.
Officiating influenced the outcome of previous games against these two teams, resulting in losses for Manti.
The Templars are 9-4 on the year, but all their losses came at the hands of good teams, and the average point spread for those games was less than four points.
Both games will be at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on KMTI 650 AM radio.