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Home > Archive > Jan 10, 2008

DSC ‘In It to Win It’
By Layne Roberts
After winning four consecutive road games last December, the Dixie State Rebels found themselves with an 8-5 record in their first year at the NCAA Division II level.
The Rebels, however, would finish the season 3-9, giving them an 11-14 record for the year.  
Although the men’s basketball team endured playing 18 of 25 games on the road and a tough season last year, there is plenty of reason to be excited this time of year at the Burns Arena.
“Last year was our first year that (the players) played together. Besides Ryan (Sanchez) and Ben (Hartman), the rest were all brand new last year. We are much more experienced this year. We are not a whole brand new team,” head coach Jon Judkins said.
With that experience, better team chemistry and improved leadership, Dixie will look to improve their home record from last year.
“You can’t lose like that at home. It’s our goal this year is to not lose at home. You can stop a losing streak or start a winning streak at home. It is huge for us to have more home games this year,” coach Judkins said.
Last year, the Rebels lost five of seven home games, though four of those games were lost by six points or fewer. This year, however, the Rebels will play nine home games after Christmas break, and they have yet to lose at home (3-0), including an exhibition victory, at press time.
Along with not losing at home, the Rebels have set out to win 20 games and their new Pacific West Conference.
During the 2006-2007 season, the Rebels were able to taste some of their future conference competition and had mixed results. The Rebels lost to BYU-Hawaii, who received six of seven pre-season coaches’ poll votes to win the conference this year, at home by six, but defeated Grand Canyon, who finished second in the preseason poll, on the road. Both teams qualified for the NCAA Division II tournament last year.
The Rebels also finished the season by losing two games, home and away, to Notre Dame de Namur, who, according to the coaches poll, will finish sixth of seven teams this season. Dixie finished fifth in the pre-season poll.
“(The Pacific West) is a good, tough, recognized conference,” said coach Judkins, who is in his third year at Dixie State.
Though NCAA regulations will prohibit postseason play (as the college continues to transition from a junior college to a Division II program), the Rebels are eligible to win regular-season conference bragging rights and printed “In it to win it” T-shirts to remind themselves of their goal.
“We figured we could compete for a conference championship since we are now in a conference, and rather than just saying it, we wanted to show that we really meant it, so we put it on a shirt,” senior point guard Dan Stock said.
Stock, who is a team captain and widely considered an extra coach on the court, is in his last season and averages eight points while playing over 34 minutes a game.
Alongside Stock in the backcourt, the Rebels start junior Ben Harman – who is playing in his third year at Dixie after graduating from Snow Canyon High School – and junior Ryan Sanchez, who regularly fills the stat sheet with rebounds and is second on the team in both points and blocks. Sanchez is one of the team’s strengths defensively as well and will often be asked to guard the opponents’ best player.
The Rebels biggest asset may be that they are not a one-dimensional team and are also very strong underneath the basket with former Idaho State all-conference player Kacey Winters leading the way.
“I just try to go out and do what I can every game. I have had games where I have scored some points, but I know I don’t have to do that every game. Everyone on our team can go off any given night, said senior Kacey Winters, who also was named Player of the Week by the Pacific West Conference, Nov. 19.
Winters leads the team in scoring, averaging over 18 points a game, and accounts for nearly one-third of the Rebels’ rebounding with 100 total rebounds on the season. Although Winters seemed to struggle with foul trouble after red-shirting last year he has since improved.
“He is very physical, and plays extremely hard. He can’t get dumb fouls; he has got to use his five fouls well,” Judkins said.
Joining Winters in the post is fellow team captain senior Troy Randall, who averages 11 points in 25 minutes per game. Opponents will begin to double-team Winters sooner than later in games, which will open up opportunities for Randall, as well as the guards, which will be key to the Rebels’ success this season.
Though the bench consists heavily of freshmen, coach Judkins believes this is another area the team has improved in the past year.
“We have a deep bench. At first, I think the freshmen came in and had to play more than they thought they would. They were a little nervous and tentative. They have played well, and we have some guys seeing some good minutes,” Judkins said.
Landon Clegg, a freshman from Lone Peak High School, leads the freshmen in minutes and gives the team energy off of the bench.
“It does not matter if you start or are the last guy on the bench, you have got to approach it the same. You have to be focused and ready to go,” Clegg said. “I came into the year expecting nothing to be given to me. I think Coach does a great job of that. Whoever works hard will get an opportunity.”
“Landon has had the biggest impact as a freshman. He talks more than any freshman I have ever had. He plays really hard,” Judkins said.
The Rebels (3-6) were second in the Pac-West Conference in scoring offense, free throw and field-goal percentage, and led the league with a plus 7.9 rebounding margin this year.
Last week the Rebels started conference play against Hawaii-Hilo and lost 63-78 in overtime.
The Rebels will play their first conference home games against Grand Canyon University, Friday, Jan. 11, and Saturday, Jan. 12.
(Stats and records are as of Thursday, Jan. 4.)
General admission is $7, and reserved seating is $10. Tickets are available at the Burns Arena box office, 652-7800.

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