domingo, 28 de febrero de 2021

3 keys to Utah State’s dominant 87-66 win over Nevada

Utah State guard Marco Anthony (44) drives to the basket as Nevada forward Robby Robinson (1) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, in Logan, Utah. | Eli Lucero, The Herald Journal via AP

The Aggies looked the part of NCAA tournament team, powered by center Neemias Queta and stifling defense.

The Utah State Aggies looked like an NCAA tournament team Sunday night in Logan.

The Aggies took on the Nevada Wolf Pack for the second time in three days and unlike the first matchup, which USU won by only three points, Utah State was completely dominant from almost start to finish.

Utah State defeated Nevada 87-66, and improved to 16-7 overall and 13-4 in the Mountain West Conference.

“That was a great win for the Aggies tonight,” USU coach Craig Smith said. “I thought we played very well for 36 minutes or so. Great team effort. We did a lot of good things out there against a very good opponent. I’ve said it many times, Nevada is a very good team. They put a lot of pressure on you, they have size, they have great guard play. It’s great to win back-to-back against those guys.

“When you play four games in 31 days, It’s hard to maintain continuity and rhythm. It also felt like we were showing signs we were going to play really well, where it was really starting to click. I thought we saw that tonight, where things were clicking on all cylinders. You bring in (Rollie) Worster, that really helps. Then you see (Max) Shulga getting better game-by-game as he gets more experience. Great team win, great balance. Great team effort and an excellent win, and it felt good to be at home.”

Here are three keys to the Aggies’ latest win over the Wolf Pack:

Stifling defense, particularly in the first half

Utah State had a rough first half on the offensive end, like really rough. The Aggies made only 13 of 34 shots — that’s 39.4% — and a measly 2 of 15 from behind the arc. Only Neemias Queta scored in double figures (12 points) as nothing really went well on one side of the court.

It was a completely different story on the defensive end, however. The Aggies’ defense was about as stout as could be hoped for in the opening half. Nevada only made 8 of 22 shots (yes, USU took 12 more shots in the first half than Nevada) and turned the ball over 13 times. Nine those turnovers were Utah State steals with Max Shulga and Justin Bean leading the way with four and three steals, respectively.

“I thought we defended really well,” said Smith. “Our screen-and-roll defense was excellent and that’s a big thing.”

The Aggies’ defense was less effective in the second half — the Wolf Pack scored 43 second half points — but it didn’t matter as Utah State’s offense heated up considerably.

Neemias Queta, as always

Queta was key to everything Utah State did Sunday night, and really has been instrumental to the Aggies’ success all year long.

He finished with a game-high 26 points and 13 rebounds, for yet another double-double, while chipping in five assists. And yet, even those numbers fail to convey his actual impact. Queta was everywhere, seemingly all the time, on both offense and defense. Nevada simply had no answer for him all night long.

Don’t forget Justin Bean and Marco Anthony

Queta wasn’t the only individual standout for Utah State. Justin Bean and Marco Anthony both had impressive outings. Bean finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, a double-double of his own, while Anthony chipped in 11 points that underscored his impact.

The duo were particularly important early in the second half. Nevada game out of the break determined to make up some ground and did, pulling with 11 points just three minutes after play resumed.

Things appeared to be about to get out of hand for USU, that is until Anthony and Bean exerted their will and helped the Aggies withstand the Nevada charge.



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Using mental toughness to fight exhaustion, the Jazz dug deep to beat the Magic

Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) drives past Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) in the second half during an NBA basketball game, Saturday Feb. 27, 2021, in Orlando, Fla.  | Joe Skipper, Associated Press

There are going to be games the Jazz will have to push through during the condensed regular season. That was the case against the Orlando Magic.

There are going to be games when the Utah Jazz just don’t have the same energy and pep as they do on other nights. There are going to be nights when their legs feel heavy and they have to find a way to push through the weight of the condensed regular season.

That was the case Saturday night, on the second night of a road back-to-back against the Orlando Magic.

After leaving Miami late on Friday night after their loss to the Heat, the Jazz arrived in Orlando in the wee hours of the morning Saturday. They didn’t have a shoot-around but they did still have to wake up early to get their first COVID-19 test out of the way before a team meeting. There was time to rest before the game that night, but there was certainly a level of exhaustion that set in.

The Jazz went on to beat the Magic, 124-109, but it was clear early on that they were going to have to dig deep down to find the resolve to get through the game. At the end of the first quarter they were leading by just one point after shooting 18.2% from 3-point range.

“Well, we’re not allowed to be tired, for one thing,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said. “That mindset, the way we started the game, we weren’t pushing the ball as much as we wanted to and we didn’t get some of the catch and shoot 3s.”

Donovan Mitchell was scoreless through the first quarter and had just six points by the end of the first half. But the Jazz were able to stay defensively focused, which is always key for this team, even more so when they don’t have the energy elsewhere.

“I was tired early, and then I felt better and better,” Rudy Gobert said after the game. “We know some games you don’t really have the legs. In those games we have to make sure that we have our heads, and we have to make sure that we communicate even more.”

Staying mentally tough is often the only way to generate the energy needed on those days when you just don’t feel like you have it.

“It’s more a mentality of not using it as an excuse,” Joe Ingles said. “I think if you start talking about it and thinking about it then you’re automatically going to come out a bit slower and a step behind. We did that, but we were able to overcome it.”

They way the Jazz overcame their early game lethargy was with a game of mental chess.

Mitchell didn’t care that he was missing shots, instead he was paying attention to how the defense was covering him and taking notes.

“I thought they were going to be in drop coverage and they blitzed so it kind of took me by surprise,” he said. “It’s about adjusting, not just for myself to score but getting guys involved, finding ways to make the simple play.”

 Joe Skipper, AP
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives to the basket past Orlando Magic forward Chuma Okeke (3) in the first quarter during an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Orlando, Fla.

Mitchell came out in the second half with an attack plan, and scored 25 points through the final 28 minutes of the game. The Jazz’s defense continued to hold strong and eventually the shots started falling.

“I still felt like we put our energy on defense,” Gobert said. “When we do that, regardless of if we’re tired, if we not tired, we’re going to be in a position to beat anybody on any given night.”

Things aren’t going to get easier for the Jazz as the season progresses. After they come back from the All-Star break — which will be even less of a break for All-Stars Mitchell and Gobert — the Jazz will open the second half of the season with a single game at home followed by a five-game road trip. They’ll face a schedule that features eight back-to-back sets between March 26 and May 8.

So the lessons learned about staying mentally engaged, even when the energy isn’t there, are going to be valuable as the Jazz work toward maintaining their position as the team with the best record in the league.



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Almost back to full strength, the Runnin’ Utes seem capable of making a late-season run

Utah Utes forward Timmy Allen (1) passes the ball away from UCLA’s guard Jules Bernard (1) during a men’s basketball game against UCLA at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021.
Utah Utes forward Timmy Allen (1) passes the ball away from UCLA’s guard Jules Bernard (1) during a men’s basketball game against UCLA at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. Allen and the Utes upset No. 19 USC on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021 and could be ready to make a late-season run because they are finally back to full strength. | Annie Barker, Deseret News

After upsetting No. 19 USC, the Utes start jockeying for position in the Pac-12 Tournament this week with final regular-season games against Oregon State and Arizona State.

What could have been?

That has been the prevailing sentiment when analyzing the University of Utah men’s basketball team’s season, marked to this point by impressive upsets and mind-boggling letdowns. The same team that beat Colorado, Arizona, Stanford and USC and led Oregon and Colorado by double digits at halftime has lost by 18 to Oregon State and blown a big lead to fall to last-place California.

But here’s another question, after the Utes, finally at full strength until point guard Rylan Jones sustained another gut-punch shoulder injury, put it all together Saturday night in a 71-61 upset of No. 19 USC at the Huntsman Center:

How far can these guys go?

Utah (10-11, 7-10 Pac-12) will be a big underdog next week when the Pac-12 Tournament begins at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (March 10) — somewhere in the 30-to-1 range — and will need to win four games to claim the title, having lost out already on the chance to grab one of the top five seeds. But if there is a team worth taking a flyer on in that gambling Mecca, it might be the Runnin’ Utes.

“I will say it again: We can beat anybody and we can lose to anybody,” star junior forward Timmy Allen said after scoring 15 points and dishing out eight assists against the slumping Trojans. “But we are happy with the win.”

Nobody is more familiar with the Utes’ up-and-down nature than head coach Larry Krystkowiak, who has said all season his team is capable of big things if it can maintain its focus, avoid discouragement and stay healthy.

“Yeah, this is what we are hoping for,” Krystkowiak said after the Utes shot 58% from the field, including an eye-popping 78% from 3-point range, in the second half against the Trojans, while putting up 44 points.

Of note, USC (19-6, 13-5) was one of the top defensive teams in the country, entering the game first in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage defense and No. 9 nationally.

“We need more hands on deck to be able to compete with some of the teams in this conference, and certainly add a little bit of depth, particularly when you move into Vegas,” Krystkowiak said. “If you are fortunate enough to win some games, you are going to need a lot of contributions.”

Depth hasn’t been Utah’s strong suit this season. Krystkowiak’s rotation only goes to seven or eight players. The Utes will need more from Jaxon Brenchley and Lahat Thioune, especially if they get to Friday or Saturday in Sin City.

Getting Mikael Jantunen back is huge. The Utes won three in a row before Jantunen left to join the Finnish national team, then went 0-4 when he was not with them.

“He is a battler. You can see the level of toughness (he brings),” Krystkowiak said. “Part of the strength of USC’s team is (its) post play, and I thought he was really solid individually in that regard.

He is kind of a glue guy for our team, does a lot of the intangibles, and little things. And just having his minutes back on the court enhances our team, without a doubt.”

As for Jones’ status moving forward, Krystkowiak was not optimistic.

“We will say our prayers for Rylan, on the shoulder (injury),” he said. “It certainly didn’t look good. We can use getting him back in the mix.”

Now in ninth place in the Pac-12 standings, Utah meets the teams directly above them in the standings this week. The Utes host Oregon State (13-11, 9-9 Pac-12) on Wednesday at 5 p.m. MST on ESPNU and will host Arizona State (10-11, 7-8 Pac-12) on Saturday.

Oregon State (13-11, 9-9 Pac-12) defeated Stanford 73-62 on Saturday to complete a Bay Area sweep, having downed Cal 59-57 on Thursday.

The Beavers could easily be on a four-game winning streak, but after knocking off Utah 74-56 on Feb. 18, they were edged 61-57 by Colorado on Feb. 20.

Allen, a serious candidate to make the All-Pac-12 team because he is in the top 10 in the league in scoring, rebounding and assists, said the Utes have a long way to go before they can say they’ve arrived. But the USC win was a good starting point.

“I mean, every game is different,” Allen said. “We are not going to shoot it as well every game, and we are not going to play as well every game. We are not going to be perfect. … So we just stick to the script and keep booking along and not worry about what you all say.”

Sunday morning, the league announced that the Utah-ASU game will tip off at noon MST and will air on Fox Sports 1. It will be the first meeting of the season between the Utes and Sun Devils, but could be repeated four days later at the conference tournament.

Utah and ASU could easily play in the 8 vs. 9 first-round game in Vegas, which is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. MST noon March 10.

Sunday’s Utah-Colorado women’s game canceled

Less than two hours before it was scheduled to host Colorado on Sunday afternoon, the Utah women’s basketball team announced the game had been canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Utes’ program.

Utah’s appearance in the Pac-12 Women’s Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Las Vegas, is suddenly in jeopardy.

“A decision regarding the Pac-12 Tournament has not been determined yet,” the program posted on its social media feeds. “We are in the preliminary contact tracing process and updates will be made available at a later time.”



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See photos and catch a glimpse into the life of President Dallin H. Oaks

Elder Dallin H. Oaks answers interview questions at his office in the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018.  | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-02-28/life-of-president-dallin-oaks-first-presidency-biography-204757

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‘We’re not letting COVID take another tournament away from us’: BYU taking every precaution to keep team safe

The Brigham Young Cougars huddle during a game against the Saint Mary’s Gaels in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021.  | Annie Barker, Deseret News

While BYU had several games either postponed or cancelled, it never had any COVID-19 issues within the program. The Cougars are the only West Coast Conference team without a COVID-19 pause this season.

Somehow, with a healthy mix of good fortune and painstaking safety precautions, the BYU basketball program played 24 games in the most unique of seasons, in the middle of a pandemic.

With a 65-51 victory over Saint Mary’s Saturday on Senior Night, the Cougars completed a taxing, 24-game regular season campaign.

While BYU had several games either postponed or cancelled, it never had any COVID-19 issues within the program. In fact, the Cougars are the only West Coast Conference team without a COVID-19 pause this season. (The only other one, Portland, went on COVID-19 pause this past week.)

While that is a remarkable achievement, now that the regular season is over the stakes for staying that way are even higher.

BYU (19-5), the No. 2 seed in the upcoming West Coast Conference Tournament, doesn’t play again until March 8 in the semifinals.

Between now and then, it’s crucial that the team remain healthy.

Asked about this tenuous situation last Thursday, coach Mark Pope said the reason why his team has avoided any COVID-19 pauses on its end this season is because “my guys have no social life whatsoever. They’re pretty boring dudes that like to hoop and go to school. We don’t really get exposed.” He added that “we’ve been really fortunate.”

Then, on cue, Pope knocked on wood before he continued.

“We’re not letting COVID take another tournament away from us. It can’t happen. As the season’s gone on, we’ve gotten increasingly cautious,” he said. “We’ll continue to be increasingly cautious. We’re super prayerful and hopeful that that doesn’t happen because these guys have worked really hard and have sacrificed an awful lot for each other. So we’re going to continue to be careful.”

Pope added Saturday night that he’s worried enough about COVID-19 issues that he may not sleep much this week.

According to the NCAA’s NET rankings and bracketologists, the Cougars are a lock to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in two weeks on Selection Sunday. BYU was going to be a single-digit seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament before it was cancelled due to the pandemic.

This season, the NCAA has mandated that teams participating in the NCAA Tournament — to be held entirely in the state of Indiana — must have seven consecutive days of negative PCR tests before starting practice in the Hoosier State.

But first, BYU needs to get through the WCC Tournament, which tips off Thursday at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

“We’re going to proceed forward. We’re going to be hyper cautious,” Pope said. “I actually have this helmet, you look like a martian, it’s got its own filters and ventilator and fans inside … I’m thinking about getting them all for the team and making the guys wear them. We have to take every precaution.”

On Monday, Pope said, he is going to meet with his team “and have a long discussion about how important this is. After Monday, it becomes super complicated if anyone test positive for COVID. Monday is the beginning of a significant window for us.”

Pope joked that he’d be fine “shipping these guys off into federal prison isolation cells or whatever.”

At least we think he was joking.

“We’ve got to find some way to keep them safe,” Pope added. “I know these guys want it just as bad as we all do. So they’re going to be really careful and we’re going to be really prayerful.”

BYU players understand what’s on the line.

Senior guard Brandon Averette said now’s not the time to let up on precautions though the the regular season is done.

“This is literally what we’ve been working the whole season for. This is why we’ve been winning these tough games because we knew we wanted to be in March Madness at the end of the season and be able to have that opportunity,” Averette said. “We understand the seriousness … we understand that at this point, if anybody catches COVID, that could be our season, you know? It’s that serious at this point. We’re definitely taking the right precautions. We’re going to continue to do that.”

Senior guard Alex Barcello said that before the season, his team set very specific goals — to win as many games as possible, win a conference championship and make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

“The guys have really taken that upon themselves and taken it upon us as a whole to be mature on and off the court. When we’re not here at practice, or we’re not going to class, we just go to our houses,” he said. “For the most part, we’re pretty locked down. That wasn’t something that came from the coaches. It came from us and the meetings that we had as a whole, all the guys, and what we wanted out of this year.”

The Cougars have had to make sacrifices in their personal lives in order to stay virus-free.

“It attests to the maturity and how seriously we took this season,” Averette said. “We knew the different precautions we might have to take and that we might not be able to hang out like we normally do with our friends. We just stayed locked in and stayed locked in on what we needed to do to play games.”

Barcello is grateful that BYU was able to play 24 games when many teams around the country weren’t able to play nearly as many.

“To us seniors, it means everything because it’s our last year. I really give credit to our coaching staff with how hard they worked,” he said. “Every game that got postponed, or cancelled, they were calling 30 to 40 different teams throughout the country, seeing if we could get a game in a day or two. They believe in us so much that they don’t care who we play. We just want to play games. We want to play games and we want go against the best and see what we’re made of. That’s why we played 20-plus games this season.”

Pope calls getting in 24 games in a season like this “a miracle.”

“We feel so fortunate and so blessed. We wrap our whole life up into this team and these games. This is our life,” he said. “For us to have had the hit we had last year at the end of the season, where we didn’t get to play and not being sure if we’d get to play. Things looked really bleak in the fall … we’ve been really blessed, haven’t we? I bet Vegas was putting the odds pretty low that we’d get 24 games in and we got them. I’m so grateful for that because through the course of those 24 games, we got to watch these young men really grow.”

And now, the task for Pope is to continue keeping his players healthy so they can continue to grow, play games — and take their shot in the NCAA Tournament.



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State’s first COVID-19 patient reflects on 1 year since he landed in Utah hospital

Mark Jorgensen, who never experienced COVID-19 symptoms, was admitted at Intermountain Medical Center’s special high-level isolation unit on Feb. 28, 2020, after the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requested the transfer from a hospital in California. On Sunday, he spoke about being Utah’s first coronavirus patient. | Mark Jorgensen

SALT LAKE CITY — One year ago Sunday, Utah received its first patient with COVID-19.

Mark Jorgensen and his wife contracted the virus while on a cruise ship in Asia, along with dozens of others — before the now-rampant disease made it to the states.

“I had no idea we’d still be doing this a year later,” Jorgensen said on Sunday, adding that he initially expected the novel SARS-CoV-2 strain would act “more like another swine flu or bird flu.”

“I’m very surprised it has lasted as long as it has,” he said.

Jorgensen, who never experienced symptoms, was admitted at Intermountain Medical Center’s special high-level isolation unit on Feb. 28, 2020, after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requested the transfer from a hospital in California. He had already been quarantined awaiting transport from Japan to the U.S. and while in California.

He spent a couple days at the Murray Intermountain facility and then, still without symptoms, was transported by ambulance — and police escort — to his home in St. George to ride out another couple weeks of quarantine.

“We certainly didn’t intend to make him the Guinea pig ... but we had to learn,” said Dr. Todd Vento, an infectious disease doctor at Intermountain who helped treat Jorgensen. He said so much has changed since one year ago.

The doctor, who had prepped and planned for COVID-19’s arrival in Utah, said it was “startling” to get the call that a positive patient was en route.

“It was then that it became real,” Vento said. Even 40 days after testing positive, Jorgensen’s tests still showed he had COVID-19, but at that point, all indications showed it was finally safe for him to leave his home.

 Mark Jorgensen
Mark Jorgensen takes a selfie while inside an ambulance. He contracted COVID-19 while on a cruise with his wife, Jerri, in Japan in early 2020. Mark Jorgensen was flown back to the U.S. directly to an Air Force base in California, before being transferred to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on Feb., 28, 2020.

Intermountain’s bio-containment unit is just one of a handful across the U.S. that exist in the event there is a need to isolate against certain diseases. It would not have been sufficient for all of the patients who have since been treated for COVID-19, doctors found.

At the time, quarantine was the only known method to stop the spread of disease.

“This is a terrible thing that has happened,” Vento said, adding that COVID-19 is something that will continue to be a problem, albeit less invasive, for years to come.

“We can’t be complacent,” he said. “We knew it was a marathon. A marathon is 26 miles and we’re somewhere in the middle, in the teens or 20s ... we have to keep running and not think about the finish line. We have to keep fighting the good fight.”

Utah numbers well off peak

Utah’s daily case counts had reached over 5,000 at the peak, after having been as low as a couple dozen in the beginning. On Sunday, the seven-day average of new cases stood at 647, compared to 1,425 on Feb. 1. Vento said it appears the virus is plateauing in Utah and across the states, as mutated strains are popping up, keeping the disease quite virulent.

On Sunday, the Utah Department of Health reported 465 new cases of disease confirmed by tests. It brings the total number of people who have become infected with COVID-19 to 371,235 in Utah.

In addition, there were six more deaths reported in Utah on Sunday. Among those were four men and two women, including a Summit County man between the ages of 45 and 64 who was not hospitalized at the time of his death; a Salt Lake County man between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized; a Tooele County man between 45 and 64 who was not hospitalized; a Utah County man older than 85 who was a long-term care facility resident; a Weber County woman between 65 and 84 who was a long-term care facility resident; and, a Salt Lake County woman between 65 and 84 who was a long-term care facility resident.

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 1,935 Utah residents since the pandemic began.

Nationally, there have been 28.6 million cases and more than 512,000 deaths caused by COVID-19, according to CDC reports. Recently, as Vento said, new cases in the U.S. have settled around 70,000 a day.

Vento said he figured COVID-19 wouldn’t be an issue past last summer ... “but the virus has really shown us that it makes the timeline, and we have to adjust.”

Because of the population and demographics in Utah, Vento knew the state wouldn’t experience the level of disease felt in New York or Washington state, where long-term care facilities were hard hit.

He said hospitals in Utah never reached crisis standards.

Since Jorgensen arrived at the Utah hospital to be treated for COVID-19, 14,695 people have been hospitalized for the virus at hospitals throughout the state. On Sunday, the state health department reported 203 people are currently hospitalized with the disease, 20 fewer than was reported on Saturday and 38 less than a week ago.

With case numbers still declining, hospitalizations are also following the same trend in Utah. Health officials have said the number of deaths will respond accordingly, but are a lagging indicator of disease.

Utah has tested 2.2 million people for COVID-19, using a total of 3.8 million tests since March of last year.

Maximizing vaccines, mask wearing best way to contain disease

The state has fully vaccinated 254,569 people with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. In all, however, the state has administered 715,536 doses, including 14,243 more than was reported on Saturday. At least 820,940 doses of the Moderna and/or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines have been delivered to Utah. Appointments to get vaccinated fill quickly as the state still receives doses of the vaccines on a weekly basis.

A third available vaccine, manufactured by Johnson and Johnson, was approved for widespread distribution on Saturday and will be arriving in Utah shortly, officials said.

Vento said vaccines need to be “maximized” as a weapon for containment of disease.

“We need to continue doing the things we know work,” he said, adding that wearing masks, social distancing, limiting gatherings, and more, will help shut down new viral strains and keep infections at bay.

Dr. Todd Vento and Dr. Angela Dunn speak about their coronavirus patient being treated at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on Feb. 28, 2020. A year later on Sunday, Vento spoke about handling the state’s first COVID-19 patient at the outset of the pandemic. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Dr. Todd Vento and Dr. Angela Dunn speak about their coronavirus patient being treated at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on Feb. 28, 2020. A year later on Sunday, Vento spoke about handling the state’s first COVID-19 patient at the outset of the pandemic.
Dr. Todd Vento and Dr. Angela Dunn speak about their coronavirus patient being treated at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on Feb. 28, 2020. A year later on Sunday, Vento spoke about handling the state’s first COVID-19 patient at the outset of the pandemic. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Dr. Todd Vento and Dr. Angela Dunn speak about their coronavirus patient being treated at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on Feb. 28, 2020. A year later on Sunday, Vento spoke about handling the state’s first COVID-19 patient at the outset of the pandemic.

COVID-19, Vento said, “is probably here to stay.”

But that shouldn’t incite fear, he said.

Jorgensen, who is eligible for vaccination due to his age and having been a transplant patient, has yet to be vaccinated and said he’s wary about it, but would do what his doctor advises. And while he wasn’t symptomatic, he has since developed medical issues, including mental fog and pinched nerves in his eye that may be a result of his COVID-19 infection early last year.

“I may not have skated as free from effects like I thought I did,” he said. “But we both believe we were blessed to get off as easy as we did.”

He and his wife have gone about normal life and he spoke with media via Zoom from his accommodations in Costa Rica on Sunday. He doesn’t regret traveling to Japan when he did and said, “stuff happens.”

“We had a great time with a little side adventure afterward,” Jorgensen said. “But we’ll definitely cruise again. We’re not letting fear of this stop us.”



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High school boys basketball: Juab boys deliver historic 3A state championship, first title in 61 years

Juab High School’s boys basketball team celebrates its first state title in 61 years Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield.  | David Anderson

Box score

The Wasps of Juab High School delivered a historic win Saturday night as they captured the school’s first boys basketball state crown since 1960.

Juab’s boys withstood a rally attempt by San Juan in the second half of Saturday night’s championship game to secure a 54-50 win.

“It’s a super senior bunch,” said Juab coach Kameron Write, now in his fourth year coaching the Wasps. “We’ve been really close before, but just weren’t able to get it done.”

Write said his core group of six seniors help lead the team throughout the season to cap off the title.

“They just know how to win,” Write said. “That senior bunch just pulled us through. I just can’t say enough about them.”

San Juan started things off as Jace Palmer raced to the paint for the first bucket of the night. Juab then went on a six-point run.

Palmer hit another inside shot and two more from the foul line to knot the game at 6-all with 4:25 to go in the first period.

That’s when Juab’s Brendan Allred sank his first of three 3-pointers to reclaim the lead.

Juab would hold onto the lead until the opening play of the fourth quarter, when San Juan’s Jensen Grover drained a shot from downtown to knot the game at 39-all with 7:33 left to play.

That’s when Brendan went to the line to reclaim the lead with a charity shot. Teammate Jakob Bailey then rolled the ball into the hoop from the side to widen the gap to three.

“They went back to what got them here and they executed and did the right things, and it paid off for them,” Write said.

San Juan would close to within one point on each of its next three turns with the ball, but Juab’s boys responded in kind. Ty Allred scored seven of his total 16 points in the final stanza for Juab.

Finally, a one-two punch of Ty snagging a rebound putting it back in for a score, followed immediately by a pair of foul shots from Bailey gave the Wasps some breathing room, bringing the score to 52-47 with 26.7 seconds left on the clock.

“We just had to keep working together and rebounding,” Bailey said. “We all just believed in each other and knew we could do it.”

San Juan’s Jayden Black nailed a shot from beyond the arc to close the gap to just two points with 12 seconds to go. All of the sudden, foul shooting was going to be really important.

“Foul shots have been a problem for us all year, but for the last couple of games we’ve been really good down the stretch and when we had to have one, we’ve got it,” Write said.

Ty and Brendan each went the line in the final seconds of the game, and both of them added one point to the total the cement the win.

“I just focused up and believed in myself and knew that my team believed in me too,” said Brendan, the senior who made the final shot of the game. “I love them, and I’m going to miss them.”

“Anything, especially in a year like this, that brings the community out like this is a good,” Write said. “We’ve been fortunate to have three sports [football, wrestling and now basketball] earn trophies this year. This has been a great year for Juab basketball and Juab sports in general.”


Deseret News all-tournament team

MVP — Brendan Allred, Juab

Ty Allred, Juab

Jakob Bailey, Juab

Nathan Gover, San Juan

Jace Palmer, San Juan

Jensen Grover, San Juan



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High school girls basketball: Second-half rally lifts Morgan past Emery for 3A state championship

The Morgan High School girls basketball team celebrates its state championship Saturday night in Richfield.  | David Anderson

Box score

The Morgan High School girls basketball team delivered a dramatic, come-from-behind victory in the 3A state championship game Saturday night in Richfield.

Morgan, down by as many as 12 in the first half, was able to turn things around to get a 51-47 win over Emery.

“It took togetherness and friendship,” said coach Sterling Mack. This is the first state girls basketball title for Morgan since the Lady Trojans earned back-to-back championships in 2003-04, and is the first for Mack.

Emery’s Lady Spartans started out strong as Tatum Tanner dropped in three shots in the first four minutes, while Baylee Jacobson hit a pair of 3-pointers. With a foul shot from Tambrie Tuttle, Emery was up 13-1.

Morgan’s Camilla Brooks broke up the Emery run with a downtowner, followed by a three-point play converted by teammate Alexandria Trussell.

By the end of the first period, Emery was still up 15-7. During the following eight minutes, the Lady Spartans continued to control the lead, adding a point to the spread by halftime, where the score stood at 29-20.

“I told them to just settle in,” Mack said. “I expected these girls to have some jitters. I just told them to settle down and just play our game.”

As the third period began, Morgan’s girls began the work of reeling in Emery.

A 13-5 run in favor of Morgan was capped off with two 3-pointers fired off by Elena Birkeland, and closed the gap to just one point as the final period began.

“Elena hit those clutch 3-pointers. Ever since then we knew we could take that ‘W’ if we just stuck together,” said Alexandria Trussell, a junior for the Lady Trojans.

Janel Blazzard, a junior, hit a shot from the paint and was sent to the line for one more to give Morgan its first lead of the game with 7:43 left to go.

“I really think we just came together and realized it’s about our team and how we play together,” Blazzard said. “That’s what gets us through those hard spots.”

The lead changed hands nine times in the final period.

Just as Morgan pulled ahead by four with 1:22 left in the game, Emery’s Jacobson hit another trey and cut the lead down to one.

Trussell put in her last points from the field with an inside jumper with less than a minute to go.

Jacobsen got sent to the foul line, where she cut the lead down by one with 24.4 seconds left on the clock.

Trussell was then sent to the line with 2.4 seconds left to play, where she drained both shots, making it two-possession game and cementing the win.

“You really just have to focus and hit those,” Trussell said. “They’re easy money.”

Trussell ended the night with a double-double with 13 rebounds and 15 points.

“We were kind of slow to start out in the first quarter. In the third quarter we really picked it up and battled hard,” said Alyvia Jaffa, a freshman who totaled eight rebounds for the Lady Trojans. “From the bench to the court, we all contributed a lot and we all won it together.”

Mack said he is proud of how the team performed under pressure.

“When we play our game this is what happens,” Mack said. “All that hard work in the offseason, to the preseason to the COVID season … it feels good.”


Deseret News all-tournament team

MVP — Alexandra Trussell, Morgan

Janel Blazzard, Morgan

Elena Birkeland, Morgan

Baylee Jacobson, Emery

Tambree Tuttle, Emery

Tatum Tanner, Emery



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Bronson Barron shines in debut, Weber State beats Idaho State 49-21

Weber State quarterback Bronson Barron (10) threw for four touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 49-21 victory over Idaho State at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho, on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021. | Robert Casey, Weber State athletics

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — Bronson Barron passed for 312 yards and four touchdowns in his college debut, and Weber State beat Idaho State 49-21 in the spring season and Big Sky Conference opener for both teams on Saturday night.

Josh Davis ran 11 times for 106 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 69 yards and a score for the Wildcats, ranked No. 4 in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Dontae McMillan ran for two TDs and Rashid Shaheed had a pair of TD receptions. Barron was 17-of-27 passing and ran for 42 yards.

Wyoming transfer Tyler Vander Waal was 17 of 42 for 304 yards passing, three touchdowns and two interceptions in his Bengals debut.

Tanner Conner caught five passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, and Malakai Rango ran for 70 yards for Idaho State.



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3 keys in the BYU Cougars’ 65-51 win over the Saint Mary’s Gaels

The Brigham Young Cougars huddle during a game against the Saint Mary’s Gaels in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021.
The Brigham Young Cougars huddle during a game against the Saint Mary’s Gaels in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021. | Annie Barker, Deseret News

BYU ended its regular season on a high note, beating Saint Mary’s 65-51 on Senior Night at the Marriott Center on Saturday.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

  • The Cougars and Gaels both struggled with their shooting in the first half, but the Cougars (19-5, 9-3 West Coast Conference) were scorching in the second half, shooting 66.7%. That allowed BYU to outshoot Saint Mary’s 42.6% to 33.3% for the game. After the Gaels (13-8, 4-6 WCC) trimmed the BYU lead to 34-30 with 16:02 to play, the Cougars scored 14 of the game’s next 16 points to take control.
  • BYU had a 43-33 rebounding edge, which led to an 8-0 advantage in second-chance points. The Cougars’ bench also outscored the Gaels’ 22-5.
  • Trevin Knell had a team-high 15 points, including four 3-pointers, while the Cougars’ three seniors all had solid games. Matt Haarms finished with a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) and added five blocks, Brandon Averette had 11 points, four assists, two rebounds and a steal, while Alex Barcello put up eight points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists.



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Why this Utah Jazz Gaming star isn’t humble

Splashy appears in a photo for Utah Jazz Gaming.
Splashy appears in a photo for Utah Jazz Gaming. | Melissa Majchrzak, NBAE via Getty Images

The Utah Jazz Gaming squad’s top rookie, Splashy, is a popular Twitch streamer and NBA 2K MyTeam player. Here’s why he has so much confidence

Splash zigs when everyone else zags.

Splash — or “Splashy Edition” or “Splash Gaming,” whatever you want to call him — doesn’t spend time preaching humility. He doesn’t act modest or shy about his success. Rather, he has taken all of his success and embraces it full on.

You could call Splash a professional athlete. He plays on the Utah Jazz Gaming team for the NBA 2K League — a professional esports league where gamers compete in NBA 2K. He was a highly-touted rookie who was selected first for the NBA 2K draft.

But more than that, Splash is one of the most popular gamers in the NBA 2K community. He plays the MyTeam mode — a fantasy mode where gamers can play against each other using real-life players found on virtual cards within the game — at the highest level.

And it’s paid off. On March 6, Splash will have a chance to win $250,000 in the finals of the NBA 2K21 MyTeam Unlimited Tournament. It’s a life-changing amount of money.

But for Splash, it’s more than just cash. It’s the culmination of a journey that began with a simple idea — make the NBA 2K league, win the MyTeam tournament and have one of the best years in NBA 2K history.

Splash has been in search of the perfect year. And on March 6, he has a chance to get it.

Looking to become pro

It was 2011 when Splash realized he wouldn’t make it in the NBA. He didn’t have the right growth spurt. He wasn’t as good at playing basketball as he wanted to be. But he had that dream of competing in the NBA like so many others around the world do.

When so many would give up on the dream, Splash zagged. He decided to still pursue the dream but from another avenue. Instead of becoming an NBA star, he turned his attention to NBA 2K — the video game that allows you to play with NBA stars. He played in different modes for a bit until settling on the MyPlayer mode, where you can create your own player to compete against others around the world.

Splash appears for the Utah Jazz Gaming squad. Melissa Majchrzak, NBAE via Getty Images
Splash appears for the Utah Jazz Gaming squad.

He set his sights on making the NBA 2K League. He knew it would make him one of the best in the world at the game.

While competing on MyPlayer, Splash learned of another mode — MyTeam. He thought it was silly at first — using cards of real NBA players with juiced stats just seemed too easy. But he tried it out. And, he said, it was pretty easy. He unlocked something within himself.

And soon he learned he wasn’t just good at the mode. He was great.

Great enough to be one of the best in the business.

Struggles of a star

Splash made the leap into the MyTeam tournament in 2K19. After winning qualifiers, he entered the 2K19 tournament as the first seed. He lost in the first round, saying he got a delay in internet connection that led to the loss. So he joined again for NBA 2K20, and the same thing happened. He lost to gamer Jomar, who ended up winning the entire tournament.

All the while, Splash has competed for the Utah Jazz gaming squad. And he saw some personal success in that arena by becoming the player of the week in June 2020. “Splashy” became the first player in Jazz Gaming to earn the honor. During that week, he averaged 33.3 points on 56.3% shooting in the three-game series with the Warriors Gaming Squad, which was undefeated at the time. “Splashy” scored 44 points in Game 1 of that series alone.

Panera Bread Rookies That Deliver - Splashy of Jazz Gaming

The Panera Bread Rookie That Delivers this week is Splashy of Utah Jazz Gaming!

Posted by NBA 2K League on Friday, June 26, 2020

“‘Splashy’ has been an incredible addition to our team, both on and off the court. His high level of basketball IQ as our floor general has contributed to our fast start,” Jazz Gaming head coach Jelani “Comp” Mitchell said in a statement at the time.

As the NBA 2K League season ended — the Jazz ended 8-8 on the season — Splash turned his attention to MyTeam again. This time, it was about trying to make the NBA 2K21 MyTeam tournament, where he could win $250,000. So he turned on his camera, streamed his preparation on Twitch and practiced for the tournament.

“I just been working on grinding,” he told the Deseret News. “I’m still trying to make the perfect story. So I came back this year with more of a chip on my shoulder with more knowledge as well.”

Part of that practice included one of his toughest struggles to date. NBA MyTeam added a new player to the game named Terry Dischinger, a legendary basketball star who could only be accessed through an offline mode where you have to win a game, open a vault and hope you win Dischinger’s card in order to play with him. The card is given out at random through a random generator system. It takes 10 games for some players, 150 games others. Some need one game. (I personally won the player in 37 games).

Splash needed 2,350 games. “I’ll never, ever, ever forget that number.”

Splash said he put off sleep to get Terry. He’d wake up, turn on Twitch and grind for Terry — nicknamed “The Dentist” by the NBA 2K community because Dischinger was a dentist in real life in addition to being an NBA 2K player.

But the moment spoke to Splash’s mentality — keep going, pushing and grinding for success. Practice for success. Become the best.

“I believe anybody can do what they put their mind to. It’s just, do you want to put your mind to it?” he said.

And it was Dischinger who helped Splash win the PlayStation 4 side of the MyTeam tournament at the end of February.

Splash entered the PlayStation portion of the NBA MyTeam tournament — which was filled with Xbox players on one side and PlayStation players on the other — ready to compete. He knew he’d have a tough go at it since other players on the PS4 side were also streamers and big names in the community.

He entered with extra knowledge. He chose not to try to get the first seed so he wouldn’t have the first game of the day. He wanted a later game to avoid any delay or internet connectivity issues.

But he pushed for it. He pushed hard. He got his way to the final, winning $50,000. And he set himself up for a final matchup against TyDeBo, one of the biggest NBA 2K streamers and former global champion.

The two will compete in the final on March 6. The winner gets $250,000.

“Hopefully I can capitalize, win this tournament, and then go into league and make a splash there and that’s the best year you can have,” he said.

Be humble?

His tweets are full of self-confidence. He’ll reply to tweets with questions about humility. He’ll tweet GIFs of the Green Power Ranger, who was known for his superior strength in skill. He’ll preach about his game and his skills.

“I carry myself a lot different than most people,” he said. “Most people are very humble. I’m more of like — let it all hang out there.”

Splash has once again zigged where everyone else zags. He’s not the typical athlete who preaches humility. He does the opposite. He promotes self-confidence and believing in yourself. He told the Deseret News he thinks people should promote their skill and success because that’s the only way people will notice you — especially when you’re first starting out.

“I just believe that gets you to just a better stance than most people,” he said.

Splash said people paid attention to him because he was telling everyone he was one of the best players of NBA 2K. He didn’t say he felt like he was one of the best. He said he WAS one of the best.

“I put a spotlight on myself more where people want to watch me play because I’m on your feed just making myself seem like I’m just the best out there,” he said. “I feel I am the best in almost every game mode.”

Kobe Bryant appears to NBA 2K21. Matt Chang, 2K
Kobe Bryant appears to NBA 2K21.

He said it stems from his success. He knows he’s in the top 1% of players in the world. And he embraces it and spreads the message.

Self-confidence, he said, is the key to success, too. He said it can have a tremendous impact on your mental health. Being confident in yourself makes you feel happier because you believe in what you do, he said.

“A lot of people might go through depression. A lot of things might happen in life where you’re just down for a while,” he said. “But if you have enough self-confidence to where you just feel like you are it, you’ll be fine. You won’t really be depressed. You won’t really be down unless some hard-hitting stuff happens to you. It’s just, I believe it’s better for you in every aspect.”



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Woman launches project to tell the stories of Black life in the Beehive State

Danielle Rowe does daughter Laila’s hair as her husband, Julius, helps their sons Malik, left, and Julius Jr., who is sitting behind his mother, with their schoolwork at their home in Murray on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021.
Danielle Rowe does daughter Laila’s hair as her husband, Julius, helps their sons Malik, left, and Julius Jr., who is sitting behind his mother, with their schoolwork at their home in Murray on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

Danielle Rowe’s life has always been a little different.

Born to a white mother and a Black father, she was adopted by a white family as an infant, then raised along with another adopted African American sister and four biological children in Utah County.

“Other than (my sister), I didn’t know any other Black people. Growing up I was always the only one,” Rowe explained. “I danced in the dance club in Orem and I was the only one who looked like me, which made for its own challenges in that world. But it (happened) everywhere, I was teased, I was made fun of, I was bullied, I was left out.”

Now the local photographer is chronicling the stories of Black people who were either raised in Utah or have lived in the state for at least 20 years as part of a Black History Month project. The goal of the project is to highlight the faces of people who make the Beehive State their home and to learn about their experiences being a small but strong minority in a place of increasing diversity.

While Rowe is grateful for the loving home her adopted parents provided her, it was experiences outside the home that created a sense of feeling like an outsider in a world of people who treated her differently because of how she looked.

Confused by how others treated her

Rowe was teased about her hair, her lips, her body, which caused her to have unhealthy body-image issues because she didn’t fit in with “the typical white girl body that everyone seemed to have but me.”

“I didn’t understand that it was a cultural thing,” she said. “I just thought there was something wrong with me.”

“It made me very self-conscious and it also made me very confused about who I am and who I’m supposed to be,” Rowe said. “I thought of myself as just Danielle, but they saw me as the Black girl. A lot of people didn’t really even know my name, they just knew me as a Black girl with braids or the Black girl on the dance team.”

Despite spending all of her childhood and formative years in Orem, going to the same schools, being a member of the same faith and attending church with the same young people, she never felt truly accepted for who she was. She attributed much of the problem to being a minority in a largely Caucasian environment. U.S. Census Bureau statistics indicate that 1.5% of people identify as African American statewide and less than 1% in Utah County.

Her mother did her best to be supportive but lacked the resources to help her deal with the challenges she was facing, Rowe said.

After graduating high school, she initially enrolled at Utah Valley University before transferring to Hawaii Pacific University where she was exposed to more diversity than she’d ever seen and experienced positive interactions for the first time in her life.

Over time, she would eventually meet a man, who also happened to be Black and born and raised in Utah, get married and have three children.

Those experiences prompted Rowe to become more aware of herself, particularly as it related to her African American heritage. In doing so, she began to question what other Blacks in Utah might be going through in their everyday lives.

After some searching and consultation with a photography mentor, she decided to embark on a creative journey that could delve into the lives of people like herself who were navigating being in Utah and how they managed to build their own community circles.

The beginning of a creative journey

Simply called “Black Utah,” the goal for the project is to celebrate the Black people in Utah who have seen it grow over the past 20-plus years and help tell their stories in a way more people will receive them and really hear them, she said.

The Rowes — Julius, left, his wife, Danielle, right, and their children Julius Jr., Laila and Malik, pose for a photo in their home in Murray on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. Steve Griffin, Deseret News
The Rowes — Julius, left, his wife, Danielle, right, and their children Julius Jr., Laila and Malik, pose for a photo in their home in Murray on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021.

Most of the subjects have jobs or community positions in which they use their voices and positions to give back to the community they love so much, she said.

“I have interviewed a doctor, marketing director and even the only Black head chef in Utah,” Rowe said.

She has photographed 22 people and asked them each six questions about what it’s like to be African American in Utah. She’s posted interviews and images for the Black Utah series on social media via Instagram.

Among the participants was Dr. Erica Baiden, a physician board-certified in family medicine, who said she has faced adversity on many fronts during her time in the Beehive State.

“As a non-LDS, Christian-fluid, cisgendered Black woman immigrant from Ghana, where do I fit in Utah? Am I Black enough, African enough, progressive enough, conservative enough, etc.” she said. “I think I speak for most of us when I say that living in Utah brings both overt and covert misjudgment and discrimination, not just from white people but from within the Black community as well.

“We are so few here in Utah, less than 2% of Utah residents are Black, as a result, everything you do is on display, you can’t blend in, you can’t just be, and more importantly, you can’t mess up,” she added. “There is a constant battle to hold on to the parts of my identity which make me whole and unique. Refusing to assimilate and become a watered-down version of me has taken years and quite a bit of courage.

“The greatest adversity of being Black in Utah is fighting not only external oppression, but an internalized self-oppression created by isolation, separation and near forced assimilation,” Baiden said. “The need to conform speech, dress, work and presence so that white people accept me in the workplace, relationships and positions of leadership has been tiring and sometimes confidence breaking.”

Ronell Hugh, a global business and marketing executive for tech giant Adobe, has lived in three countries during his life and said being Black in Utah has been among the most challenging.

“Living in Utah has provided me with many memorable experiences. I’ve felt the sadness and loneliness that comes with being sometimes the only Black person in predominantly white spaces,” he said. “The ‘onlyness’ factor is exacerbated when I experience microaggressions and covert racism at work, in church and in my community. You feel the weight of having to represent your Black culture and community at every turn.”

Despite those difficulties, he has noticed an improvement within the state’s growing African American community that gives him hope for the future.

“I’ve been fortunate in my life through my career to come and go from the state. Over the years I’ve lived here, I’ve seen a dynamic shift in the growth of the Black community and culture,” Hugh said. “I would say that in the early 2000s it was somewhat more subdued, but over the years it has taken flight. The community is not afraid to be Black and we are unapologetic about it. Collectively and individually, we are magnifying our voices for change.”

Stories like Baiden’s and Hugh’s are why Rowe has been so passionate about creating a vehicle for highlighting the real-life experiences of others like herself who have felt marginalized, yet continue to persevere to affect positive change.

“I wanted to do this project because I wanted to give Black Utahns a voice. I wanted them to have a place to express the things that they’ve been through and also put it in a way that everyone is willing to listen,” Rowe said. “I feel like right now with what’s going on in our country there is a lot of yelling going on, a lot of finger pointing and a lot of belittling.”

“I really wanted to create something that had a very positive piece to it which was me asking them, ‘Why you love living in Utah.’” she continued.

Participants could also express the specific adversities they face being in Utah.

“To help open people’s eyes that we do have racism here, we do have issues, and a lot of issues that Black people are facing are the same ones that Black people face in other states. It’s not different,” Rowe said. “Hopefully, by reading those (stories) and understanding them, we can bring people together to a place where they can have common ground and understand each other so that we can move on and we can build a better community all-around for Utah, for Black people in Utah and for Utah’s (overall) community.”



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Woman launches project to tell the stories of Black life in the Beehive State

Danielle Rowe does daughter Laila’s hair as her husband, Julius, helps their sons Malik, left, and Julius Jr., who is sitting behind his mother, with their schoolwork at their home in Murray on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021.
Danielle Rowe does daughter Laila’s hair as her husband, Julius, helps their sons Malik, left, and Julius Jr., who is sitting behind his mother, with their schoolwork at their home in Murray on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

Danielle Rowe’s life has always been a little different.

Born to a white mother and a Black father, she was adopted by a white family as an infant, then raised along with another adopted African American sister and four biological children in Utah County.

“Other than (my sister), I didn’t know any other Black people. Growing up I was always the only one,” Rowe explained. “I danced in the dance club in Orem and I was the only one who looked like me, which made for its own challenges in that world. But it (happened) everywhere, I was teased, I was made fun of, I was bullied, I was left out.”

Now the local photographer is chronicling the stories of Black people who were either raised in Utah or have lived in the state for at least 20 years as part of a Black History Month project. The goal of the project is to highlight the faces of people who make the Beehive State their home and to learn about their experiences being a small but strong minority in a place of increasing diversity.

While Rowe is grateful for the loving home her adopted parents provided her, it was experiences outside the home that created a sense of feeling like an outsider in a world of people who treated her differently because of how she looked.

Confused by how others treated her

Rowe was teased about her hair, her lips, her body, which caused her to have unhealthy body-image issues because she didn’t fit in with “the typical white girl body that everyone seemed to have but me.”

“I didn’t understand that it was a cultural thing,” she said. “I just thought there was something wrong with me.”

“It made me very self-conscious and it also made me very confused about who I am and who I’m supposed to be,” Rowe said. “I thought of myself as just Danielle, but they saw me as the Black girl. A lot of people didn’t really even know my name, they just knew me as a Black girl with braids or the Black girl on the dance team.”

Despite spending all of her childhood and formative years in Orem, going to the same schools, being a member of the same faith and attending church with the same young people, she never felt truly accepted for who she was. She attributed much of the problem to being a minority in a largely Caucasian environment. U.S. Census Bureau statistics indicate that 1.5% of people identify as African American statewide and less than 1% in Utah County.

Her mother did her best to be supportive but lacked the resources to help her deal with the challenges she was facing, Rowe said.

After graduating high school, she initially enrolled at Utah Valley University before transferring to Hawaii Pacific University where she was exposed to more diversity than she’d ever seen and experienced positive interactions for the first time in her life.

Over time, she would eventually meet a man, who also happened to be Black and born and raised in Utah, get married and have three children.

Those experiences prompted Rowe to become more aware of herself, particularly as it related to her African American heritage. In doing so, she began to question what other Blacks in Utah might be going through in their everyday lives.

After some searching and consultation with a photography mentor, she decided to embark on a creative journey that could delve into the lives of people like herself who were navigating being in Utah and how they managed to build their own community circles.

The beginning of a creative journey

Simply called “Black Utah,” the goal for the project is to celebrate the Black people in Utah who have seen it grow over the past 20-plus years and help tell their stories in a way more people will receive them and really hear them, she said.

The Rowes — Julius, left, his wife, Danielle, right, and their children Julius Jr., Laila and Malik, pose for a photo in their home in Murray on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. Steve Griffin, Deseret News
The Rowes — Julius, left, his wife, Danielle, right, and their children Julius Jr., Laila and Malik, pose for a photo in their home in Murray on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021.

Most of the subjects have jobs or community positions in which they use their voices and positions to give back to the community they love so much, she said.

“I have interviewed a doctor, marketing director and even the only Black head chef in Utah,” Rowe said.

She has photographed 22 people and asked them each six questions about what it’s like to be African American in Utah. She’s posted interviews and images for the Black Utah series on social media via Instagram.

Among the participants was Dr. Erica Baiden, a physician board-certified in family medicine, who said she has faced adversity on many fronts during her time in the Beehive State.

“As a non-LDS, Christian-fluid, cisgendered Black woman immigrant from Ghana, where do I fit in Utah? Am I Black enough, African enough, progressive enough, conservative enough, etc.” she said. “I think I speak for most of us when I say that living in Utah brings both overt and covert misjudgment and discrimination, not just from white people but from within the Black community as well.

“We are so few here in Utah, less than 2% of Utah residents are Black, as a result, everything you do is on display, you can’t blend in, you can’t just be, and more importantly, you can’t mess up,” she added. “There is a constant battle to hold on to the parts of my identity which make me whole and unique. Refusing to assimilate and become a watered-down version of me has taken years and quite a bit of courage.

“The greatest adversity of being Black in Utah is fighting not only external oppression, but an internalized self-oppression created by isolation, separation and near forced assimilation,” Baiden said. “The need to conform speech, dress, work and presence so that white people accept me in the workplace, relationships and positions of leadership has been tiring and sometimes confidence breaking.”

Ronell Hugh, a global business and marketing executive for tech giant Adobe, has lived in three countries during his life and said being Black in Utah has been among the most challenging.

“Living in Utah has provided me with many memorable experiences. I’ve felt the sadness and loneliness that comes with being sometimes the only Black person in predominantly white spaces,” he said. “The ‘onlyness’ factor is exacerbated when I experience microaggressions and covert racism at work, in church and in my community. You feel the weight of having to represent your Black culture and community at every turn.”

Despite those difficulties, he has noticed an improvement within the state’s growing African American community that gives him hope for the future.

“I’ve been fortunate in my life through my career to come and go from the state. Over the years I’ve lived here, I’ve seen a dynamic shift in the growth of the Black community and culture,” Hugh said. “I would say that in the early 2000s it was somewhat more subdued, but over the years it has taken flight. The community is not afraid to be Black and we are unapologetic about it. Collectively and individually, we are magnifying our voices for change.”

Stories like Baiden’s and Hugh’s are why Rowe has been so passionate about creating a vehicle for highlighting the real-life experiences of others like herself who have felt marginalized, yet continue to persevere to affect positive change.

“I wanted to do this project because I wanted to give Black Utahns a voice. I wanted them to have a place to express the things that they’ve been through and also put it in a way that everyone is willing to listen,” Rowe said. “I feel like right now with what’s going on in our country there is a lot of yelling going on, a lot of finger pointing and a lot of belittling.”

“I really wanted to create something that had a very positive piece to it which was me asking them, ‘Why you love living in Utah.’” she continued.

Participants could also express the specific adversities they face being in Utah.

“To help open people’s eyes that we do have racism here, we do have issues, and a lot of issues that Black people are facing are the same ones that Black people face in other states. It’s not different,” Rowe said. “Hopefully, by reading those (stories) and understanding them, we can bring people together to a place where they can have common ground and understand each other so that we can move on and we can build a better community all-around for Utah, for Black people in Utah and for Utah’s (overall) community.”



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Can government policies give caregivers a needed boost?

Debbie Mortensen, left, guides her mother, Mary Thornton, outside at their home in Grantsville on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. Mortensen and her husband moved to Grantsville to care for Thonton after she began showing signs of dementia.
Debbie Mortensen, left, guides her mother, Mary Thornton, outside at their home in Grantsville on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. Mortensen and her husband moved to Grantsville to care for Thornton after she began showing signs of dementia. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Experts says caregiving is especially hard for those juggling work with need to care for ill or disabled loved ones

When their mom first showed signs of dementia, Debbie Mortensen and her six siblings decided they’d help her where they could, but let her be as independent as possible. Then it became clear 2½ years ago that Mary Thornton, now 80, needed more than occasional help and Thornton’s husband, who was older, was himself physically too frail to address all her needs.

Mortensen said the siblings assessed how each could contribute. Her gift was presence. Mortensen, 52, had the most flexibility. She owned her own cosmetic company franchise and basically worked for herself. Her husband Gordon was in law enforcement, but was nearing retirement. They decided it was feasible, if not altogether desirable, to leave their home of 27 years in Fillmore, Utah, and move two hours north to Grantsville to live with and care for her mother.

That decision puts the Mortensens among at least 53 million caregivers providing unpaid care to an adult or child, according to AARP’s “Caregiving in the U.S. 2020” report. That’s nearly 1 in 5 adults who care for a family member who is ill or disabled. Roughly 60% of them also work.

The AARP Public Policy Institute estimated in 2017 that frail Americans receive care with a value of at least $470 billion in unpaid assistance.

Families can find the task nearly overwhelming, especially if they’re balancing work and caregiving tasks, as the Center for Public Justice said in an open letter to Congress this month, asking lawmakers to enact policies to help unpaid caregivers manage the load.

The center, a nonpartisan nonprofit “devoted to public policy research and civic education with a distinct theological lens,” said the signers want Congress to:

  • Guarantee paid parental and family leave that can be used at the birth or adoption of a child or to care for someone who is sick or disabled.
  • Support paid time off for illness, recovery and caregiving.
  • Protect pregnant women and young children. They note higher risk of bad COVID-19 outcomes to pregnant women and unborn children and the United States’ high rate of maternal and infant mortality, compared to comparable nations.

“Public policies should uphold both the dignity of work and the virtue of caregiving,” the letter says. “We urge you to prioritize family-supportive work as central to our national recovery.”

Debbie Mortensen, left, fixes mother Mary Thornton’s hair at their home in Grantsville on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. Mortensen and her husband moved to Grantsville to care for Thonton after she began showing signs of dementia. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Debbie Mortensen, left, fixes her mother Mary Thornton’s hair at their home in Grantsville on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. Mortensen and her husband, Gordon, are among at least 53 million U.S. caregivers.

What COVID-19 revealed

COVID-19 has expanded who sees the needs of caregivers, said the Rev. Amy Ziettlow, pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Decatur, Illinois, and a longtime advocate for family caregivers. She co-wrote “Homeward Bound: Modern Families, Elder Care and Loss” and was among those signing the letter to Congress.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic began, America’s patchwork approach to paid time off meant millions of workers had no access to paid sick days,” the letter said. “Emergency leave has helped fill some gaps for workers, temporarily. Emergency leave should be expanded and assured for the duration of the pandemic. The U.S. also needs a forward-looking plan to ensure that, even after the end of the pandemic, all workers will have access to paid sick days for the seasons of illness, recovery and caregiving that are normal and important parts of human life.”

They wrote that “we have prayed for protection for those who have worked on front lines, accompanied children learning from home, consoled those who have lost work and mourned those who have died.”

Ziettlow saw challenges vex families with health or caregiving needs during the pandemic. Some people couldn’t take time off to quarantine when they were exposed or became ill because it would have cut into their incomes. Caregiving put their ability to pay rent or buy their children food at risk. The natural outcome, she said, is to go to work anyway, putting others at risk.

“In that sense, it really benefits everyone to have protective policies,” she said. “It really is a safety net.”

She’s repeatedly seen families struggle with challenges like learning a day care will close unexpectedly for two weeks “starting tomorrow” because someone got COVID-19. Handling that is tricky, she said, because some of the informal help families might call on, like an elderly but willing member of one’s faith congregation, cannot be tapped for help in this pandemic. Even nearby adolescents are out of bounds. The risk is too great.

Especially lower-wage earners and people who work part-time may lack access to paid benefits — and they are often called upon as caregivers because their families don’t have alternatives that better-off families could afford.

Providing care for an elderly person may also be very complex and require certain skills, so not just anyone can be called into service.

Ziettlow predicts one good thing may arise from the pandemic experience. Lawmakers and public alike have “realized how important caregiving for our personal health as well as the health of our immediate loved ones is. And that we need help doing that. You need time and you need a lack of anxiety about whether or not you’re going to have an income to do that well,” she said.

Ziettlow is among experts who believe it’s generally better for society and for most individuals if care can be provided by loved ones at home. That care is less expensive and most older adults who need care say they’d prefer it that way.

Additionally, COVID-19 is unlikely to be the last health crisis, she added. We’ve learned we could be better-prepared for the next one.

Debbie Mortensen, left, helps up her mother, Mary Thornton, at their home in Grantsville on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. Mortensen and her husband moved to Grantsville to care for Thonton after she began showing signs of dementia. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Debbie Mortensen, left, helps up her mother, Mary Thornton, at their home in Grantsville on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. “I feel blessed” to be able to care for her, Mortensen said.

More local solutions?

The federal Family Medical Leave Act allows workers to take up to 12 weeks off to deal with a health crisis, though it doesn’t mandate paid time. Someone who is himself ill may be able to go out temporarily on paid disability, but that doesn’t extend to family members who need care.

Some state and local governments have tried to fill gaps to help caregivers. In Illinois, for instance, employers provide 10 days of paid sick leave that can be used for one’s own or a close relative’s illness.

Local aging programs, which may have local or federal funding, provide a lot of help to older adults who need it. Area Agencies on Aging operate several programs. But they’re stressed, too. Services such as Meals on Wheels or respite care may have waiting lists, limited time to offer families and are chronically underfunded.

Right now, the Mortensens have qualified for a total of 60 lifetime hours of respite care and they’re taking it a couple of hours at a time to go out for dinner or run errands while someone stays with Thornton. When it’s used up, they’re going to miss it, but it has helped immensely, Debbie Mortensen said.

Employed caregivers typically say they’re happy to take care of their loved one and signed up to some extent for the job. But when they devote time to a family member, they’re missing out on benefits a casual observer might not consider. They often lose wages. They lose a share of contributions to Social Security and any retirement savings account their employer may offer. They may not get promotions.

“That can really have a cumulative negative financial impact,” said Ziettlow.

That Mortensen owned her business helped. But she gave up her local franchise when she moved, so she’s making less money than she was. They’ve been able to use her mother’s Social Security to hire a little bit of help here and there, but at professional agency rates, that would go fast. Her sisters and brothers help as they can, though COVID-19 has limited them. They are very good, she said, about helping her find resources and chipping in where they can.

Mary Thornton looks out a window at the home she shares with her daughter, Debbie Mortensen, and family members in Grantsville on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Mary Thornton looks out a window at the home she shares with her daughter, Debbie Mortensen, and family members in Grantsville on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021.

Not just about $$

Money’s not the only issue. Caregivers can face the ire of employers or see their careers suffer when family demands impinge on work.

AARP Public Policy Institute issued a report on that issue in February by the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hasting College of the Law. Researchers there found several federal laws bar employment discrimination because employees care for family members, but the protection is limited.

“They apply to only specific workplace issues, such as retaliation for taking family leave or discrimination because the employee is associated with someone who has a disability, and only certain types of family caregiving, such as being the parent of a young child,” the report said.

State and local laws may fill in gaps, but they are few and far between. For instance, Delaware alone says employers can’t discriminate against employees because they care for adult family members, but it doesn’t cover caring for in-laws, siblings or grandparents who may be disabled or ill. And it says an employer has to apply its rules in a nondiscriminatory manner. If a supervisor is allowed to work from home to give medicine to a parent, others have to be allowed to as well. But they could all be told no.

Three states have more limited laws “that could be expanded to include family caregivers,” wrote report authors Cynthia Thomas Calvert and Jessica Lee.

Connecticut law says employers can’t ask about family responsibilities. A New Jersey rule protects state employees from discrimination or harassment based on family status, but doesn’t explicitly mention caregiving. Alaska, Minnesota and New York prohibit discrimination against relatives caring for young children, AARP reports.

Cities, towns, villages and counties have tackled discrimination against family caregivers: 191 passed laws that ban discrimination, but may limit the ban to those caring for children. Few specify caring for adults. Many of those laws offer as redress the right to sue an employer, which some are loathe or unable to do.

According to AARP, the issue is called “family responsibilities discrimination” or “caregiver discrimination” and the harm can take many forms, from being terminated to being bullied into reducing caregiving to simply being bypassed for opportunities and raises.

AARP points out caregiving is not a partisan issue.

Some of the best help caregivers get comes from support groups, Ziettlow said. That’s also a major source of programs and policies that may help people in their caregiving. But not everyone can get away from jobs or caregiving for that, either.

Some also need help understanding what their related benefits are, if they have any, and how to access them, she said. She thinks a federal, unified approach would help “because right now, it’s so piecemeal and employers administer those benefits differently, which is especially bad when you’re already stressed.”

As for Mortensen, she’s grateful that circumstances have let her care for her mother. “I’m blessed that I could take the time, though it put a little damper on us financially giving up the business,” Mortensen said. “I love her and don’t want her in a home.”



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