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By Coach Dave Hammer

DAILY HERALD: Wilcox silences West Jordan at ESA

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This entry was posted on 12/4/2007 8:22 AM and is filed under Boys Basketball News, Boys Youth Basketball.

Below is an article reprinted from the 
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Wilcox silences West Jordan at ESA  

SALT LAKE CITY -- They may have been outnumbered by more than 5-to-1, but the handful of Pleasant Grove students who sat on the second row of Energy Solutions Arena Monday afternoon couldn't be quieted in the fourth quarter.

"You can't stop him."

"You can't stop him!"

West Jordan's response?

Silence.

C.J. Wilcox has a way of quieting the studentbody of opposing schools. He erupted for 32 points to help Pleasant Grove erase a 15-point first-half deficit and beat previously undefeated West Jordan to 67-59.

"He was in foul trouble against Alta and still scored 22. He was in foul trouble against Provo and still got 21. He's that kind of shooter," said Pleasant Grove coach Randy McAllister. "He can go inside or out. He's developed his game to where he can pretty much be unstoppable."

Wilcox knocked down 6 three-pointers and scored 21 points in the second half to lead the Viking comeback.

"My teammates started looking for me. We moved the ball and they kept one eye on me and I happened to be in the right spot," Wilcox said. "We came out soft on defense in the first half, but coach chewed on us at halftime and we played harder on defense and crashed the boards in the second half."

Pleasant Grove was on the verge of getting run out of the arena in the first half. After Wilcox hit a 3-pointer to put the Vikings up 5-4 with five minutes left in the first quarter, the Jaguars went on a 14-5 run to close out the first quarter.

Mason Sawyer hit a pair of 3-pointers to help West Jordan up its to 30-15 midway through the second quarter. Pleasant Grove began to turn things around late in the first half. Wilcox went up for a shot on the baseline and had the ball knocked loose while he was shooting. The ball went up and in anyway to cut the lead to 32-25 with 30 seconds left in the half.

It was one of the few things that went right for the Vikings, who struggled from the free throw line, connecting on just 5-of-17 shots in the first half.

"Why? Why did we have to comeback? That's my question," McAllister wondered. "We talked about not letting down after a big win against Provo before the game. Give West Jordan credit, they came out hot and we were just flat."

Trailing 33-28 at the half, McAllister's message got through to his players because the Vikings charged out of the locker room and took control of the game and by the end of the third quarter had a 42-41 lead. Pleasant Grove got six points (four from Craig Tucker and two from Wilcox) from offensive rebounds in the third quarter alone.

Then in the fourth quarter Wilcox showed why he is one of the state's hottest Division I recruits. He started off the fourth with a 3-pointer. After West Jordan's Jonah Blanchfield scored, Tucker nailed a 3-pointer and Wilcox followed with a three-point play. LeSean Wilcox then scored to put the Vikings up 56-48 with 3:31 to play.

C.J. Wilcox capped off a memorable game with a steal and a two-hand dunk in the closing seconds to celebrate the victory.

In addition to the performance turned in by Wilcox, Jared Allridge scored 16 points and Tucker added 14 points for the Vikings, who improved to 3-0 on the year.

Conners led West Jordan with 16 points. The loss dropped the Jaguars to 3-1 on the year.

The game was played prior to the tip-off of the Miami Heat-Utah Jazz game.

PLEASANT GROVE (67)

C.J. Wilcox 32, L. Wilcox 6, Tucker 14, Thurgood 3, Nielsen 2, Adamson 3, Allridge 16. Totals: 24 (8) 11-23 67

WEST JORDAN (59)

Blanchfield 2, Sawyer 11, Conners 16, Ashton 1, Weirick 4, Holt 8, Tialavea 3, Montgomery 6. Totals: 37 8-14 59

Pleasant Grove 10 15 17 25 -- 59

West Jordan 18 16 7 18 -- 67

3-point shot: Pleasant Grove 8 (C. Wilcox 6, Tucker, Adamson). West Jordan 5 (Sawyer 2, Conners 2, Holt).

 

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