San Juan girls rally comes up just shy in hard-fought battle with rival Grand County

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School girls basketball team had an exciting Region 15 battle with local rival Grand County this past Thursday, January 18 in the SJHS gymnasium.
The Lady Red Devils started quickly, doubling up the Lady Broncos 8-4 in the first quarter and stretching their lead to 21-14 at the half.
But San Juan stormed out of the locker room, outscoring the visitors 19-8 in the third quarter to take a 33-29 lead. Unfortunately Grand had some storming back of their own to accomplish.
They outscored the Lady Broncos 17-5 in the fourth quarter, handing the home team a heartbreaking 46-38 loss. San Juan dropped to 3-12 on the year and are ranked 17th in the Utah 2A RPI standings.
Prior to the game with Grand the girls suffered road losses to North Summit 66-32 on January 12 and to Whitehorse 64-44 on January 16.
It’s been a pretty light new year so far for the Lady Broncos. They’ve played just three games since the first week of January and only five since the Christmas break.
The trip to north central Utah didn’t quite go as planned. After playing North Summit they were supposed to take on Duchesne on the way home January 13, but a winter storm brought a halt to that.
Heading into the final three weeks of the regular season Synessa Atcitty leads the team with 117 points, an average of 7.8 per game. Kaidence Mitchell has 87 points (5.8 ppg).
Khimya Fullwood has scored 62 (4.13 ppg), Macee Palmer and Shaylin Nez both have 56 (3.73 ppg), Hayden Shumway has 46, C’ona Dandy 41, Tekowa Hernandez 30, Ladainia Lopez 23, Syndel Atcitty ten, and Tzosilah Etsitty six.
Nez leads with 13 three-point baskets, Synessa Atcitty has 12, Dandy eight, Lopez three, Fullwood two, and Mitchell and Palmer have one apiece.
This weekend the team will hit the road again for a couple of Region 15 matchups. They’ll play at #21 Gunnison Valley on Friday, January 19 and at #12 North Sevier on Saturday, January 20.