Pleasant Grove defeats Blue Devil’s varsity men’s basketball

By Zoe Vikstrom,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff

Davis High varsity men’s basketball home game was lost 62-86  against Pleasant Grove on Jan 21.

Leading the team in scoring were Ben Prussel, with 18 points, Kevin Austin, with 15, and Drew Gnos, with 12.  Ryan Kreidler, Glen Welch, Nathan Hassid, Cole Skaggs and Ben Bergevin contributed baskets as well.

Going into the game, the team understood it was going to be a challenge. “We knew it was going to be competitive […],” Coach Daniel Gonzalez said. “We went in knowing that it wasn’t going to be our style of game.”

One of the reasons for this predicament was Pleasant Grove’s player Marquese Chriss. Chriss is a senior who has a scholarship for basketball next year with the University of Washington, which classifies him as a D1 recruit. He was taller than the other players on the court, enabling him to make multiple slam dunks.

The DHS basketball team is trying to overcome the physical advantages that the other teams in their league have. “We had a little trouble countering the height advantage,” Gonzalez said.

To improve their chances, the team is working on technique and speed. Gonzalez praised team member Will Bodendorfer for his great energy and hustling.

“We are obviously a shorter team,” Bodendorfer said, “and not as athletic as some others, so we have to keep up the pace. The resilience in our team is really good.”

Gonzalez also noted the effort Prussel and Austin put into the game: “Kevin did a great job of controlling the game coast to coast and Ben had a good shooting game.”

Both Prussel and Austin pride the team for not giving up when behind, as demonstrated by the improvement in the score from half time, when the score was 21-50, to game’s end. “We played hard and never gave up on our chance of winning” Prussel said.

“We have been improving every game, and the next time we play them it will be easier,” Austin said.