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Jake Nadauld leads Springville boys basketball past Wasatch

By Jared Lloyd - | Jan 21, 2022

Both the Springville and Wasatch boys basketball teams love playing a physical, tough style of basketball.

That meant everyone knew that Friday night’s Region 9 contest in Springville was going to be a battle that would come down to one side making key plays.

Red Devil senior guard Jake Nadauld answered the call.

Nadauld put up a game-high 26 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter as Springville held off the Wasps to get the 55-48 win.

“It is always a battle with Wasatch,” Nadauld said. “We knew coming into this game that we were really close, that we just had a little step to take. It was our focus and playing together, not giving up at any second, that made the difference. We finally played a consistent game all the way through and I’m just really proud of how we played together as a team.”

Springville head coach Justin Snell said Nadauld is the type of player who has earned the right to be confident in those moments.

“Jake is a baller,” Snell said. “No one has seen the time he has put in to be where he is at. He does it every single day, before games, after games, before practice, after practice. He shoots the shots the every single day and has for years.”

Neither side was able to create much separation throughout the contest, with Wasatch leading by five points in the early going and Springville leading by five points early in the fourth quarter.

Wasatch rallied to take a lead at 42-41 but the Red Devils got a pair of free throws from senior Austin Mertz and a jumper from Nadauld to take the lead for good.

The visitors knocked down four foul shots to stay within striking distance, but Nadauld added a layup and five free throws and Springville got three other foul shots to put the game away.

“I saw a whole bunch of grit out there,” Snell said. “This group plays extremely hard. Jake did a great job of creating angles and going downhill, but then he made great decisions. He made some passes but he also got to the rim and finished.”

Nadauld said he felt like Wasatch didn’t respect his complete game, but that provided some openings.

“They kept forcing me left like I didn’t have a left hand,” Nadauld said. “I thought they were going to trap me. My teammates are awesome and they know when the other team guards me like that, sometimes it is my turn to go score. Then we got some huge stops and huge rebounds from all of our guys.”

Nadauld recognized that is has been a roller-coaster ride for the Red Devils this season but he feels like some things are starting to click.

“I think we are starting to peak at the right time,” Nadauld said. “This was a huge win. Now we can carry this energy through the rest of region and into state. That’s huge for us.”

Snell said he wants to see the team continue to be more consistent in making the right plays.

“We need our guys to be a little more consistent on the offensive end,” Snell said. “They can score but we just aren’t quite there yet. We should have four or five guys in double figures. Once that starts happening, we’ll be a hard out.”

Springville (9-6, 2-1) next plays at Maple Mountain on Tuesday while Wasatch (8-9, 2-1) heads to Spanish Fork on the same evening.

Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

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