Both San Juan basketball teams earn state quarterfinal births after multi-year haituses

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
When the past week began the San Juan High School girls basketball team was looking to make the Utah State quarterfinals for the first time since 2020 and the boys were trying to make the trip for the first time since they won the 2A State Championship in 2022.
Both teams accomplished their goal with second-round wins, the boys on the road against American Prep West Valley 77-66 and the girls at home over American Heritage 60-50.
Friday the 13th was actually very lucky for the Bronco boys. After a long bus ride north to West Valley City they opened their game against the Eagles with a 20-10 first quarter, opening a ten-point lead.
However, the San Juan advantage was short-lived when APA rallied to score 25 second-quarter points. The Broncos mustered 18 though to maintain a slim 38-35 lead at halftime.
The Eagles continued their comeback in the third quarter, ultimately catching and passing San Juan to take their first lead in the game. In times past this season the Broncos have struggled when they’ve given up a lead late in a game, but that was not the case on Friday.
They battled to retake the lead by the end of the quarter and held a 58-50 advantage heading into the final frame. San Juan kept the offense coming in the fourth, holding APA at arm’s length for the ten-point victory.
Tripp Palmer and Jagger Nieves combined to score 47 points for the Broncos, Palmer 24 and Nieves 23. George McNaughtan poured in ten points in the win.
Nieves earned a very impressive triple-double in the game with 21 rebounds and 12 assists. Palmer and McNaughtan both got double-doubles with 14 and 12 rebounds respectively.
Like the boys, the Lady Broncos led from the start in their second-round matchup with American Heritage in Blanding on Saturday, February 14.
San Juan scored 17 in the opening quarter to lead 17-10. The teams played an even second quarter and the Lady Broncos held a 31-24 lead at halftime.
They kept coming in the third quarter, stretching their lead to 47-39, then closed out the game with a strong 13-11 fourth quarter.
Kaidence Mitchell led the offensive attack for the Lady Broncos with 17 points. Brooklyn Lameman battled through an injury to score 16 points, including four three-point buckets.
Khimya Fullwood poured in ten points in the win. Ella Stearns contributed eight, Daveigh Mitchell got six, and Madi Adams added three. Stearns and Mitchell hit two threes apiece and Adams got one.
Both the boys and girls teams enter the state quarterfinals this Monday, February 13 and they’ll both have big tests right off the bat against the top-ranked Kanab Cowboys.
Both San Juan teams were swept in their season series with the Cowboys and are looking to shock the 2A basketball world with big upsets.
The boys tip at 11:10 a.m. on Monday and the girls at 7:30 p.m. at Utah Valley University’s UCCU Center in Orem. Redrock 92.7 FM will feature complete live coverage of both teams’ state title bids throughout the three-day tournament.
An audio-only stream will also be available on StreamUtah.Live and YouTube for all the games. The opening broadcast will begin at 10:40 a.m. on Monday. Full results will appear in the March 4 issue of the San Juan Record.