San Juan boys fall to top 2A teams

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School boys basketball team entered the new year with a 4-9 record. Since then it’s been tough sledding for the Broncos with one win and four losses as Region 19 play has gotten underway.
San Juan’s region is without doubt the toughest in the state in 2A play. To start this week Enterprise, South Sevier, and Kanab made up the top three teams in the state. With Parowan ranked sixth, four of the top six teams reside in Region 19.
This past week the Broncos came up against the top two. Friday, January 13 they gave the #1 Enterprise Wolves a run for their money in the San Juan High School gym.
For the entire first quarter San Juan kept pace with the top-ranked team. They traded the lead relentlessly and after the first eight minutes the score was 14-10 in favor of the visitors.
But Bronco shooting began to go cold in the second quarter, allowing the Wolves to establish a 26-19 halftime lead. Unfortunately, the San Juan shooting – mainly from beyond the arc – didn’t heat up in the third quarter, after which Enterprise led 42-32.
The Broncos mustered 14 points in the final frame, but the Wolves got 18 to secure a 60-46 win. Despite what the scoreboard said, it was one of the best games of the year for San Juan against the top team in the state.
Following the loss Bronco Head Coach Jeff Johnson said, “I’m really happy with everything we did. We executed our game plan well. For the most part I feel like we did what we needed to do on the defensive end and we just couldn’t make a shot.”
The three-point shooting was indeed the story of the game. San Juan is typically a strong outside shooting team, but against Enterprise they were just 2 of 20. RJ Dalley came off the bench to get both the threes in the loss.
Bronco junior Anthony Done, who has really hit his stride in the last two weeks, was the one player the Wolves couldn’t shut down. He scored a very impressive 28 points in the game.
Collin Baker helped out with nine, RJ Dalley got six, Jagger Nieves scored a couple, and Jake Ivins rounded out the San Juan scoring with one point.
The following night, Saturday, January 14, the Broncos were admittedly flat in front of their home crowd against the #2 South Sevier Rams. They fell behind 23-14 after one quarter and 41-25 at the half.
South Sevier stretched their lead to 56-37 after three quarters. With the Rams going deep into their bench in the fourth, San Juan was able to gain a little ground to make the final 66-52.
Done again led Bronco scoring with 20 points in the loss. Baker had 12, Brigham Nielson poured in five, Ivins and Johnson added four apiece, Dalley got three, and Dakota Long and Nieves scored two each.
Following the week San Juan is 5-12, ranked 11th in the 2A RPI standings. This week is a bit up in the air. As it stands, the team will not play again until next Friday, January 27.
Their only game initially scheduled for this week against Parowan on Saturday, January 21 was tentatively moved to February 1.
There is a possibility it will move back to this weekend, but that is unconfirmed at our press deadline. Stay tuned to Redrock 92 for updates on the sports report, and the live broadcast Saturday evening if the game does take place.