Bronco boys basketball team splits games in Tropic, Bicknell to open new hoops season

The San Juan High School boys basketball team opened the 2025-26 season this past Friday and Saturday, November 21-22 with a trip west to take on Bryce Valley and Wayne.
On Friday, just six days after many of them won their fifth straight football state championship in Herriman, the boys took the court in Tropic against the 1A #3 Bryce Valley Mustangs.
The Broncos wasted no time, starting out strong despite the extreme lack of practice time to begin the season. San Juan led 16-12 after the first quarter but couldn’t maintain that momentum in the second frame.
Bryce Valley scored 16 points in the second to just nine for San Juan as the Mustangs took a slim 28-25 lead into the halftime break.
The Broncos rallied to dominate the second half, winning the third quarter 18-6 and the fourth 15-14 on the way to a nice 58-48 season-opening win.
Tripp Palmer had an excellent first game of the season, scoring 20 points to lead the San Juan offensive effort. He completed a double-double when he pulled down 14 rebounds.
Jagger Nieves scored 13 points for the Broncos in the win, Cole Duke tallied 11, and Baylor Nielson and George McNaughtan got four points each.
Beau Yeomans scored three points in his first varsity basketball game. Brigg Palmer scored two and Cash Palmer got one.
Brigg Palmer pulled down ten rebounds in the win, Duke collected nine, McNaughtan six, Nieves five, and Cash Palmer three.
Baylor Nielson led the team with five assists while Duke and Nieves collected two apiece. Defensively McNaughtan blocked three Bryce Valley shots and Tripp Palmer blocked two.
In game two of the season San Juan traveled north from Tropic to Bicknell to face the Wayne Badgers. The game was a tale of two halves.
Wayne opened the scoring on their home court with two baskets, but the Broncos took quick control, outscoring the Badgers 27-4 over the course of the next 12 minutes to lead by 19 points at 27-8.
Wayne got their offense back in gear to decrease the deficit to 29-20 by the time the halftime buzzer sounded.
The Badgers’ momentum carried over into the third quarter as they outscored San Juan 21-12 to tie the game at 41-41 heading into the final frame.
San Juan just couldn’t find a rhythm in the fourth quarter, falling behind 12-9 in the frame to suffer a tough 53-50 defeat.
Tripp Palmer earned his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 19 rebounds, but it was Cole Duke leading scoring in the loss with 18 points for the Broncos.
Cash Palmer scored nine points, Baylor Nielson seven, and Andrew Nielson three. Brigg Palmer and Beau Yeomans both tallied one point each and the Badgers held McNaughtan off the score sheet.
Cash Palmer pulled down eight rebounds in the loss, McNaughtan snagged seven, Brigg Palmer and Yeomans collected four apiece, and Cole Duke got three.
San Juan struggled at the free throw line, going just 6-for-15 and they shot just 29 percent from the field (20-for-70).
Still, second-year head coach Easton Nielson was encouraged by his team’s play on their first trip of the season, especially considering that they’ve had virtually no time to prepare.
“My favorite thing was seeing how much fun our guys were having,” said Nielson. “Coming out of football the turnaround is fast but this group has been very positive and overall they had a lot of fun competing this weekend.”
Nielson also said he’s excited about the team because he’s already seeing them play with a lot of chemistry, even during the first two games.
“This is a positive group of guys with a ton of potential to have a good year,” he explained. “We did a lot of really good things and the things we need to clean up are very manageable. I have a lot of hope for this group being able to make those adjustments and have a lot of success this year.”
San Juan played one more game before the Thanksgiving Break, against local rival Green River in the 2025-26 home opener on Tuesday, November 25. That game was contested after the San Juan Record print deadline.