San Juan basketball teams unable to find win column in tough penultimate week of season

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
It was a tough road trip for the San Juan High School boys basketball team this past weekend with the Broncos suffering Region 15 losses to Duchesne and North Summit on February 2 and 3.
Against the Eagles on Friday, February 2 San Juan fell behind 14-11 after one quarter, but they were still in the hunt. A 21-13 second quarter in favor of Duchesne set the tone for the remainder of the game, however.
Both teams scored 13 points in the third quarter and the Eagles outscored the Broncos 13-12 in the fourth to close out a 61-49 win. San Juan was a bit flat and never really threatened in the game.
Jake Ivins led scoring for the Broncos with 12 points in the loss and RJ Dalley added 11. Jagger Nieves and Tripp Palmer had a good night off the bench to score nine points apiece.
The real story was that the team’s leading scorer, Anthony Done, was held to just four points, as was starter Brigham Nielson.
On Saturday, January 3 San Juan continued heading north to Coalville, looking to rebound against the North Summit Braves.
But once again they fell behind and were never able to catch up. They trailed 20-12 after one quarter, 36-28 at the half, 57-40 after three, and 71-60 at the final buzzer.
The starters struggled to score again in the loss, but the Broncos got some excellent contributions from the bench. Tripp Palmer scored an impressive 20 points and Weston Jones added ten to pace the team.
Done scored nine points in the loss, Dalley got six, and Keaton Ivins added five. Jake Ivins and Jagger Nieves both scored four apiece, and Brigham Nielson got two.
Dalley, Jones, and Palmer all had a pair of three-point baskets each and Done hit one from beyond the arc. Palmer completed a double-double, leading the team with ten rebounds. Done and Dalley each had nine.
The Broncos shot just 37 percent from the floor in the two games combined over the weekend. They were 30 percent from beyond the arc and 63 percent from the free throw line.
With the losses the boys dropped to 9-13 on the season. Before the 2A RPI standings were taken offline they were ranked 11th.
Only one game remains to close out the regular season. They’ll host the Grand County Red Devils this Friday at 7 p.m. Listen to the game live on Redrock 92 with video on streamutah.live starting at 6:30.
The San Juan girls had a tough past week also, suffering two losses to Duchesne and one to North Summit.
The first game of the week in Duchesne on Tuesday, January 30 was originally scheduled for January 13 but had to be moved due to a snow cancellation.
The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 20-10 lead after one quarter and held the Lady Broncos off from there on the way to a 50-33 final.
Game two between the teams on Friday, February 2 in Blanding was a little closer. Though Duchesne opened a sizable first-quarter lead at 19-8, San Juan scored 23 points in the fourth quarter to pull to within ten at the final buzzer, 59-49.
The Lady Broncos closed the week at home against North Summit on Saturday, February 3, falling by a final of 61-28. San Juan dropped to 3-17 on the year. They were 19th in the 2A standings before they were taken offline.
Like the boys, the San Juan girls have just one game left in the regular season, against Grand County in Moab this Thursday, February 8.