San Juan girls suffer two losses, prepare for tough region road trip

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School girls basketball team opened the new year with a showdown against local rival Whitehorse in Blanding Tuesday, January 3.
It was an exciting, back-and-forth battle that went right down to the wire. The Broncos started strong, outscoring the Raiders 19-10 in the first quarter in front of their home crowd.
But Whitehorse rallied in the second quarter to pull to within five points at the halftime break 36-31. The Raiders held onto their momentum in the third quarter, outscoring the home team 12-8 to make the score 44-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
Whitehorse refused to let San Juan take their momentum away in the final frame. They scored 15 points while the Broncos mustered 12, resulting in a hard-fought 58-56 win for the visitors.
San Juan stayed at home to host the #1 Kanab Cowboys on Friday, January 6. This time it was all Kanab. The Cowboys jumped out to a 25-14 lead after one quarter, extended it to 42-21 at the half, and cruised to a 71-50 win.
With the losses the Broncos dropped to 3-8 on the year. They’re ranked 14th in the most recent 2A RPI standings.
They hosted Grand County on Tuesday, January 10 looking to split the season series with their rivals. They lost to the Red Devils to open the season November 16. The game was played too late for our press deadline.
The Broncos are set for a tough road trip west for a couple Region 19 matchups this weekend. They face #11 Enterprise on Friday, January 13 then #9 Parowan Saturday, January 14.
They’re right back at it next Tuesday, January 17 with a much shorter road trip to take on local rival Monticello.