The Grand County High School boys and girls basketball teams each finished their regular season and look toward play-in games this week. Meanwhile, the wrestling team had its state tournament on Friday, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10, where senior Kayden Robertson placed third at 138 pounds and sophomore Carson Whitney placed third at 106 pounds.
Robertson won his first-round match by pin fall at 4:35 over South Sevier’s Ethan Richards, then won a majority decision over Emery’s Bray Meccariello in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal, he lost to South Sevier’s Cannon Fullenbach. In the consolation rounds, he beat South Summit’s McCall Fox by pin at 2:45 and Carbon’s Bradley Judd by pin at 5:10 to finish in third place.
Whitney scored quick pins over his first two opponents, dispatching Richfield’s Kolby Kirchner in 38 seconds in round one and Juab’s Benjamin Nielson in 1:08 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal, he lost by majority decision to Morgan’s Joseph Mecham. In his first consolation match, he beat American Leadership Academy’s Cash Caldo by 9-6 decision and in the third-place match he beat Caldo’s teammate Sage Mortimer by pinfall at 3:25.
Gage Hansen went 2-2 in the heavyweight division with all four of his matches being decided by pin. Andrew Miller also went 2-2 at 195 pounds with both of his wins and one of his losses by fall. At 113 pounds, Malachi Ricks went 1-2 with all three matches decided via pinfall. The boys finished 11th overall.
The boys basketball team fell to Emery 92-83 in Castle Dale on Wednesday, Feb. 7, to finish the regular season 16-5 overall with an 8-4 record in Region 15, earning a No. 2 seed in the state playoffs. The Red Devils trailed by as many as 26 points to the Spartans, but came storming back, cutting the deficit to as low as six points in the fourth quarter. However, much like the Red Devils did in their Moab meeting, the Spartans made crucial free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Emery converted 32 of 37 free throws, while Grand went 17-of-24 from the stripe. Masen Ward had 22 points, while Brayden Schultz had 16 points and Alec Williams had 13 points. The Red Devils and Spartans combined to have six players foul out of the game.
The Red Devils travel to Wasatch High School in Heber City for their first-round “play-in” game versus Carbon on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 6:30 p.m. The Dinos tied for fourth in Region 14 with a 5-7 record, finishing with a total record of 6-16. The winning team advances to the state quarterfinals at Dixie State University in St. George on Thursday, Feb. 22.
The Lady Red Devils finished their regular season with a 66-51 loss at San Juan on Saturday, Feb. 10, getting outscored 48-25 in the second half after leading most of the early going. Veda Gritts had 26 points for Grand, while Annabelle Garrett had 13 points and Mercedes Zunich had 10 points. On Tuesday, Feb. 6, the Lady Red Devils had their home finale, a 93-32 loss to Emery. Zunich scored 11 points in the contest, while Gritts had eight and Garrett had six. The Lady Red Devils only made eight field goals, getting almost as many points from the foul line as from the field. The Lady Spartans only attempted six free throws, making two of them.
The Lady Red Devils (8-13, 4-8 Region 15) are the No. 5 seed from Region 15 in the playoffs and will play Juab on Friday, Feb. 16, at 1:30 p.m., at Wasatch High School in Heber City. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday, Feb. 22, at Dixie State University in St. George.
Kayden Robertson, Carson Whitney each place third at state wrestling
