Carson Jorgensen hauls in a rebound last week when the Hawks lost to Delta, 58-46.

Hawks enter playoffs with two-game losing streak
2-13-08

Even though the Hawks basketball team had secured second place in Region 8 and the last two games of the season could not strengthen or weaken that spot, Coach Bull Keisel still wanted his team to finish strong before heading to the state playoffs.
Instead, the team will carry a two-game losing streak with it after a 58-53 defeat at Emery, and a pummeling by the No. 2 team in the state, the Delta Rabbits, 58-46.
At Emery, the Spartans jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, playing with an amazing amount of intensity before North Sanpete buckled down and closed the gap to 13-9 by the end of the quarter. Emery kept up the early pressure, and by the end of the half had amassed a 29-20 lead.
The intensity was high all night long between these two rival teams. The two teams battled in the third quarter with each scoring 13 points. The Hawks remained down by nine points entering the final period. North Sanpete outscored the Spartans 20-16 in the fourth, but it was not enough to get the win.
The Hawks had three players in double figures, led by Shaun Seely’s 16 points and four three-pointers. He was followed by Russell Christensen with 13 points and Tyler Daniels with 12. Emery’s Dempsey Jeffs had 19 points to lead all scorers.
Delta came to Mt. Pleasant with a stellar record, but had trouble with North Sanpete in their first encounter two weeks ago when the Hawks’ Christensen was out with a knee injury. This game looked like the Hawks might hand the Rabbits their first region loss, as North Sanpete played first half well.
The Hawks started the game in man then switched to a 2-3 zone, and while Delta had an early three-point lead, North Sanpete’s Justin Curtis kept his team in the game in the first quarter with his only seven points of the game. The first quarter ended in a 15 tie.
Helped by early Delta foul trouble, North Sanpete took an early second quarter lead and jumped up by five points before Delta finished the half with a three-pointer to take a 25-24 lead into the locker room. The Hawks had just one field goal in the period but kept up by hitting 7 of 10 from the free-throw line.
Coming out in the third, Delta buried the Hawks by putting together a 19-4 run, using a stifling defense and finding holes against the North Sanpete players. The Hawks closed back to within nine in the fourth quarter, but dropped into a 19-point deficit before losing by the final margin.
North Sanpete will play at home on Saturday against Uintah at 6 p.m.