CLEARFIELD--Coming into their Region 1 game against Clearfield the Davis Darts saw a chink in the Falcon armor they hoped to exploit. It took them three quarters to do so, but when they figured out that Clearfield struggled handling the ball, the game quickly got out of hand in their 56-42 victory. With the game at a 34-34 standstill in the fourth quarter the Darts turned up the pressure on the Clearfield ball handlers and forced seven turnovers in a quarter that sparked easy fastbreak points.
The Darts have one of the quickest guard lines in the state in Nick Martineau, Stratton McCausland and Brian Green. The Falcons have one of the biggest and most athletic front-courts.
Something had to give. It ended up being Clearfield, as Davis proved to be the more balanced team.
"We knew they had a big lineup so we wanted to press and see how they'd handle it," Green said. "They're a good team, but we caused some steals and fed off of that."
The 12-1 Darts have shown teams this season that they'd better forget about running with them, and Clearfield did a good job of slowing the Dart offense for most of the game.
The interior defense, led by Cameron Evans and Mitch Scholer kept the Darts off-balance at times, and kept the Falcons in the game. But their shoddy ball-handling down the stretch allowed Davis to get running. The Darts went on a 19-3 run over the final five minutes of the game after their center, Brady Hurst, left the game with his fifth foul.
Clearfield had erased a nine-point Davis advantage at the end of the third quarter, but the Darts didn't flinch, and never showed any worry.
The Darts have shown that they are a resilient team with good composure, chalking up wins in some of the toughest places to play on the road, at Bountiful, Orem, Northridge and now Clearfield.
"It's difficult to play on the road, but our defense was the difference," Davis coach Jay Welk said.
While some teams are dependent upon the play of one or two star players to get them victories the Darts showed once again that they are a complete team chalked full of athletes that can get the job done in the clutch.
Recently the Darts have looked to Green for offense and he has been on a hot shooting streak over the past three games that started in the second half against Layton and saw him rain jumpers on Northridge and Clearfield. He finished with a game-high 18 points on Tuesday.
"It's hard to explain, but I just feel in a groove and have a lot of confidence. I just try to create a little energy," Green said.
He creates headaches for opposing defenses along the way.
Green certainly wasn't the only Dart that provided a spark against Clearfield. Nate Law brought intensity to the defensive end and led the team in rebounds with five, while the typical cast of characters played flawlessly again on the offensive end.
McCausland had 12 points, mostly from the free throw line where the Darts shot 93 percent. Martineau had nine points and six assists, shifting to the role of primary distributor with Green and McCausland shooting so well.
Davis is on a roll, with the only blemish on their record coming against Alta, a team they beat five days before their rematch.
Scholer found his way inside for 14 points while Tanner Hansen scored 10 points and Trevor Scott eight points for the Falcons who slip to 1-2 in region play and 7-5 overall.
Davis has a bye Friday night while Clearfield plays host to Weber.
bdevoe@davisclipper.com
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