The Region 8 championship basketball game was held Wednesday, February 24 at Salem Hills High School, the Payson Lions played Salem Hills High School, in the end the Skyhawks were flying high as a kite, the ending score was Payson 43, Salem 45.             The game started off well for the Skyhawks when they got the tip, the Skyhawks then took the lead for the 1st and 2nd quarter. The Skyhawks played hard all game, London Simmonsen in particular. He shot a lot of mid-range jump shots landing most of them.             The game began to get intense in the 3rd quarter when the Skyhawks lost the lead, it then went basket for basket for the 3rd and 4th quarter. The Lions then pulled ahead of the Skyhawks to take a 3 point lead. But the Skyhawks would not be denied as they made a come back, Jake Skinner making a free throw to assure the Skyhawks victory. When asked how it feels to be a region champ, Skyhawks center Jordan Robles said, “Amazing! Best feeling in the world.” After the game Coach Jimmy DeGraffenried was asked if he felt his team deserved it.               “Yes they do, they have worked hard in practice all year, and have prepared for this game. They knew it was going to be a battle and they came out fighting.”               The Skyhawks did an excellent job congratulations to the Skyhawks on there 2nd region championship in a row.    

Salem Hills High School Wrestling took an amazing seventh in state. Two wrestlers from Salem Hills made it on to the finals, Spencer Davis a sophomore wrestling at a weight of 103 lbs. and Phillip Sorensen a senior wrestling at a weight of 189 lbs. Davis wrestling an amazing match, fought his best but came out with and unfortunate loss. Davis still placed a well earned and well respected second in state. He plans to come back next year even better and ready to win state.  Phillip Sorensen took an extremely impressive first place in state! He is the man! He is the hero at Salem Hills being the first wrestler from Salem to ever win the State championship.  “Taking state was the single greatest moment of my life. Everything that came with it was worth all the crappy practices,” Says Phillip Sorensen.              Sorensen has very much going for him. Keep your eye out for Phillip in the future of wrestling. Way to go Phillip Sorensen!! The rest of the Salem’s Wrestling team will be back next year ready to make some amazing accomplishments for Salem Hills High School. Go Fight Win Skyhawks!!

After the game on 2/16/10 the Golden Eagles were shot down and possibly bleeding. The game Tuesday night ended in a 62-34 blowout, Salem Hills flying away as the victor.             “They are a young team but if we play sloppy we will lose,” said Salem Head Coach Jimmy DeGraffenried.             But the Skyhawks did not play sloppy; they played tough defense and high pace explosive offense. The Golden Eagles kept the score within 6 points of each other for the 1st and second quarter. However the Salem Hills Skyhawks pulled ahead in the 3rd quarter. The Skyhawks also went on a 21-4 run in the 4th quarter leaving the Golden Eagles, crying in the dust.             Joseph Mormon did particularly well scoring 18 points and embarrassing the defense on their home court. Also Jake Skinner scored 14 points and had 3 rebounds.  

  Wrestlers (left to right) McKayd Gordon, Phillip Sorensen, Chase Wilson, Derek Mangelson, Spencer Davis              These Manly wrestlers grappled their way to victory. But for these few the season is not over yet, they must compete in state. These wrestlers are not newbies to state wrestling tournaments, They have all been to state and have extreme success. There is much expected of these young men. But Salem Hills wrestling team and their head coach T.J. Brindley believes in them strongly. These Salem Hills Wrestlers will go to state with confidence or as the Skyhawks from Salem Hills would say, they are going with SPIRIT, HEART, HONOR, AND SUCCESS.     Go fight win Skyhawks.  

                The game between Payson and Salem is always excitedly anticipated by parents and students alike; this game ended with the Skyhawks flying high, and the Lions crawling back to their lonely den.               The game stayed very close, the two teams stayed within 4 points of each other. Until the 3rd quarter when the Skyhawks pulled ahead by 13 points making the score 43- 30. The 4th quarter started to look better for the Lions when they shortened the Skyhawks lead to 45-40.               In the 4th quarter Salem Hills student Brendan Thayne was asked about the game he said, “We can win this game, we are a lot better than them.”               The 4th quarter was filled with fouls, the Payson Lions had 7 fouls and the Skyhawks of Salem Hills had 5.               The outcome of the game could have ended in a Payson victory; however, the lions had 3 of their 7 fouls in the last minute of the game. This gave the Skyhawks a chance to change the score from Payson 46 Salem 48, to Payson 46 Salem 51.               This may have been a low scoring game but it was intense to the end and was a rip roaring, high flying, cold clocking game of Basket Ball.

SHHS vs. SFHS

 

In their first region game on January 12th, the Salem Hills Skyhawks played Spanish Fork High School. The game was highly anticipated by both student bodies, resulting in a large turnout that filled the bleachers. This was Salem’s opportunity to redeem themselves after a hard loss to SFHS during the last football season.

Much like Salem’s previous games, they remained in the lead until the fourth quarter when the Dons caught up, adding to the excitement in the packed gym. The Dons missed key free-throws in the last moments in the game which motivated the Skyhawks to stay on top of their game and make their last foul shots.

London Simonson and Jake Skinner combined for 37 points and led their team to a victory with a score of 63-60. Spanish Fork also played well with Ren Williamsen as their leading scorer with 11 points.

 

The Skyhawks varsity wrestling team comes home from the Highland Duals with the first place trophy on Saturday. Lots of tough teams including Brighton and Highland attended the two day dual style tournament this weekend in hopes of bringing home the trophy. But the Skyhawks did not let disappoint when they dominated throughout the tournament to bring home the very first First Place Trophy for varsity. Salem had a very solid first day with wins against Hillcrest(69-12), Park City(57-6), and the home team Highland(56-10). With ten out of the fourteen Skyhawk wrestlers going undefeated the first day, the first place trophy looked very promising. When the second day came around the Skyhawks had to face many of their teammates from the JV All Star Team. Some of the matches were pretty close, but the Skyhawks varsity team proved why they were on the varsity team. When they forfeited two weights and won all the other matches either by pin or major decision. Next round the Skyhawks faced the tough team of Brighton which came down to Taylor Thorpe’s match which he won(1-0) to make the final score 36-30. The Skyhawks rounded off the day with two more victories over Ogden(72-12) and Clearfield(48-33). “I think that we came both days ready to wrestle. I’m glad that I was on the team to bring home the first varsity first place trophy. “ said J.T. Atkinson(171).

 

Sub-for-Santa By: Sammi Magoffin                 The Spirit of Christmas is thriving at Salem Hills High School during the holiday season. Two weeks ago the Dance Company at the High School started a Sub-for-Santa fundraiser to provide Christmas for 76 local kids from Springville to Payson. Including fifty dollar donations from Smiths, Fast Gas, Chevron, Gas-n-Go, Boothe Bros., MVP Sports, and Salem Family Dental, the school raised $3,200 – enough money to buy Christmas for all 76 kids on their list. On Wednesday Dec. 16, the Dance Company took a group of students on a several hours shopping trip. The following Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, the Company took more students to deliver the gifts.                  “It’s been an amazing opportunity to serve these people,” said Sammi Magoffin, the Service Coordinator on the Dance Company,   “They’re complete strangers, but the love that is felt when we are helping out is so strong.”                   Alesha Erdmann, the Dance Company Captain said, “Some of the families we delivered to didn’t speak English, but they didn’t need to for us to understand their gratitude. Kindness is the Universal Language.”                 Many of the teachers at the school put in a lot of dedication and support to the cause. One teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought all of the books needed for the kids. “Sub-for-Santa is a good program because it gives us the opportunity to help people who need just a little help to provide Christmas for their families.”                 The Sub-for-Santa program didn’t only help those who couldn’t afford Christmas, but it provided deep insight for many of the students involved.                 “This whole experience just makes me appreciate what I have.” –Kandalyn Russell, a dancer on the Dance Company.                 The Dance Company plans on making Sub-for-Santa a yearly tradition to help bring the true Christmas Spirit to the High School.