| Erich Buchmiller takes it hard to the hole in the victory over Duchesne. |
Last year it was the scrappy upstarts from Duchesne that put the Dinos in there place, but not this season. A well rested Dino squad came out fast and furious and before the game even was started, the outcome looked rosy for the Dinos. In the end they beat Duchesne by the final score of 66-35.
Steals and turnovers have been a problem for Carbon this season, but Thursday night, they were the ones taking control and forcing the errors from their opponents. By the end of the first quarter they had taken a 19 point lead.
The Dinos did experience a second quarter let down as they got a bit confident and Duchesne stole back some of their ground. At the break the score was 33-21.
Coach Bianco put the fire back in his squad and they roared back onto the court to outscore Duchesne by another 10. Even with the game seemingly in the bag, Carbon kept up their intensity into the fourth quarter.
With a nice cushion to work with the bench got the luxury of some good court time as well. The bench did not want to let Duchesne back in the game at all and many on the team showed some good moves as they got their chance to shine.
The scoring leader was once again Joey Keller as he unloaded for 14. Dayton Martindale had a hot hand from downtown as he hit three treys and ended up with 11 points. Eric Buchmiller also was in double figures with 10.
Bianco was pleased with his team’s effort from the minute they hit the floor. He was a bit worried about the long layoff and if they might need to shake off the dust, but there were no cobwebs in evidence on this evening. Again he gave praise to much of the team, but he was especially satisfied with the way Buchmiller stepped up and made himself a force throughout the game.
“We need that type of performance from him the rest of the season,” stated Bianco. “Our guards also played a great game and they took care of the ball and distributed it well.”
The progress his team is making in the positive direction is something Bianco is happy about, but he knows they still have a way to go before they can feel they have this season under control.
Carbon played Delta on Wednesday evening after press time. The Rabbits are ranked number one and are 10-1 on the season.
The Dinos return home to take on North Sanpete on Friday night.