San Juan basketball teams sweep week, close out pre-Christmas portion of their schedule

Other than their loss to the impressive Real Salt Lake Academy Griffins on December 8 the San Juan High School boys basketball team cruised through the first five games of the 2021-22 season.

That didn’t change this past week when the Broncos traveled to Moab on Wednesday, December 15 to beat local rival Grand County 78-47, then smoked the Bayfield, CO Wolverines 94-40 in Blanding Saturday, December 18.

The most interesting point against Bayfield came with San Juan leading 77-35 and just under four minutes left in the game. That’s when the San Juan JV players came in to close out the game.

But they preceded to hit six straight shots – five from three-point land – to score 17 points in two minutes. Mercifully, the next time they got the ball they just held onto it and ran the clock out to secure a 94-40 win.

With the wins the Broncos improve to 6-1 on the season. Despite the strong start, one area where the Broncos have been underperforming is shooting.

But after starting the year 34 percent from the floor they have steadily improved, specifically in the two games this past week, until they are now shooting over 41 percent.

San Juan is looking better every game, and that bodes well as they prepare to face some tougher competition after the Christmas break.

The Broncos have not struggled from long range at all this season. Of their 182 total baskets, an impressive 72 are from beyond the arc and they’re shooting 37 percent from three-point range.

Another area where Head Coach Travis Black has been wanting to see his team improve is rebounding, and that has definitely come to fruition in the last week. San Juan is now out-rebounding their opponents 264-211 on the season.

Through the first seven games the Broncos have three players averaging double digits in scoring. Ladd Ivins leads the way with 121 points (17.3 points per game), Jensen Grover has scored 95 (13.6 ppg), and Cooper Black has 72 (10.3 ppg).

Just outside a double-digit average are Jayden Black (62 pts / 8.9 ppg) and Jace Palmer (56 / 8.0). Coach Black said one of his goals is to have all five of his starters averaging double digits as they reach the home stretch of the season.

The Broncos had one pre-Christmas game left when this week started. They welcomed the rival Monticello Buckaroos to Blanding on Tuesday, December 21.

They resume play after the break against Canyon View, Hurricane, and Grantsville at the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic in Cedar City December 28-30.

Coming into this past week, the San Juan High School girls basketball team was 1-6 and hadn’t played since losing to Grand County on December 7.

They were due for their second win of the season, and with a strong effort against Bayfield on Saturday, December 18 they got just that, 55-27.

The Lady Broncos outscored the Lady Wolverines in every period, 16-5, 13-9, 13-5, and 13-8. Kaeah Howard scored a very impressive 21 points to pace San Juan.

Serina Yanito and Halli Palmer added ten points apiece, Shaylin Nez scored eight, Draikiia Lehi got three, Page Bitsoie two, and Hayden Shumway rounded out the San Juan scoring with one point.

Like the boys, the Lady Broncos closed out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule on Tuesday, December 21, but on the road against American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork, UT.

Also like the boys, the San Juan girls will resume play at a tournament right after Christmas. They’ll take on APA Draper, Orem, and West at the South Mountain Holiday Classic in Bluffdale December 27 and 28.