NFile photo / www.Grandslam.name
Tylan Jackson, shown here in an earlier game against South Sevier, put up 47 points in two games last week.

Late San Juan surge bests Templars, 68-66
By Bob Bahlmann
2-6-08

BLANDING—Last weekend the Manti Templars made the long road trip to Moab and Blanding where Friday night saw an easy win over the Grand Red Devils, 111-48.
And it looked like the Templars would earn another big win on Saturday at San Juan, but the Broncos outscored the Templars by sixteen in the fourth quarter to earn a two-point win, 68-66.
The Red Devils proved to be no match for Manti in a game that saw every Templar get varsity time. In the lopsided victory, 13 players scored for the Manti Templars.
Before Coach Mark Hugentobler called off the dogs, Tylan Jackson scored 18, Nick Brown and Griffin Aste had 14 each, Dave Hugentobler had 12, Russ Hugentobler scored 11, and Callan Jones had nine.
Also scoring for the Templars were Tyler Clark with eight and Jackie Brown following with seven, Zach Bown with six, Kyle Moore and Jens Howe with four each, and Tyler Thomas and Chase Barrus with two each.
On Saturday night, Manti traveled to Blanding and got off to a great start, scoring at will in the paint and getting 3-pointers from Howe and Dave Hugentobler to take a 24-9 lead after one quarter of play.
By the end of the first half, however, five Templars were in foul trouble and San Juan had cut Manti’s lead to 10 points.
The third quarter belonged to Tylan Jackson, who scored all 16 of Manti’s points and outscored San Juan by two, to give Manti a 14-point lead going into he final quarter.
On four consecutive possessions Jackson scored 12 points by hitting three 3-pointers in a row before getting three the old fashioned way to end the quarter.
But in the fourth quarter, San Juan whittled away at Manti’s lead and, for the second night in a row, took advantage of missed free throws by their opponent to mount a comeback.
In the final minute of play, the Templars missed four free throws in a row while San Juan was almost perfect from the line. With less than five seconds remaining, a foul and subsequent technical gave San Juan a chance to pull ahead by two and earn the win.
Jackson led all scorers with 29 points. Russ Hugentobler had nine, while Aste, playing on a bum ankle, was held to eight points, which was matched by Dave Hugentobler. Howe had a pair of threes. Jones, Barrus, and Bown each had two.
Although the loss moved Manti into the fourth place spot in Region 12, if Richfield beats San Juan this week and Manti wins their two remaining games against Gunnison on Wednesday and North Sevier on Friday, the Templars will finish in a tie for third place.