The Grand County High School (GCHS) boys basketball team went 1-1 last week, beating Green River 90-83 in non-region road action on Wednesday, Jan. 22, before falling 90-70 at home to San Juan in a Region 12 home tilt on Friday, Jan. 24.
Competing against the Green River Pirates, Kaine Allred had 24 points, while Eli Hazlett had 22 points and eight rebounds. Ryelan Jones pitched in with nine points, but the game of the night belonged to Luke Williams, who nearly recorded a triple-double with 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds.
Returning to region play, however, the Red Devils still couldn’t find the win column as a cold shooting night for the Red Devils and a hot one for the Broncos resulted in a 90-70 win for San Juan.
The Red Devils shot just 40%, including just 24% from behind the arc, while San Juan shot 54%, shooting an even better 65% from deep.
“[The Broncos] didn’t miss much,” GCHS boys basketball coach Scott Horton said. “They were shooting hot from three. They’re a good team that can beat you inside or out.”
The Red Devils had four double-digit scorers against the Broncos. Williams and Hazlett each scored 15 points, while Allred had 13 points and Milo Birdwell had 11 points. The Broncos out-rebounded the Red Devils 36-28, and out-assisted the Red Devils 21-14.
With the loss, the Red Devils sport an 8-9 overall record, but an 0-5 mark in Region 12 play, losing the first go-round to each region opponent. Three of GCHS’s region opponents are ranked top five in 3A: No. 3 Emery, No. 4 Richfield and No. 5 San Juan.
Horton said he prefers it that way.
“Every year our region is good,” he said. “You don’t want to play against bad teams…I’d rather play a good team and lose than play a bad team and win.”
The Red Devils play rematches against three of their five region opponents this week, starting with a home game at Carbon on Wednesday, Jan. 29. This weekend, they play at South Sevier on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m., and at Richfield on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 4 p.m.
“We’ve got to rebound and we’ve got to play better defense,” Horton said. “We can score, but we’ve also got to stop the other team from scoring. It depends on the boys and how much they want it – what they’re willing to do.”
The Lady Red Devils were also in action against San Juan last week, losing in Blanding 87-14 on Tuesday, Jan. 22. Josalyn Murphy had nine points. The Lady Red Devils also played at Carbon on Tuesday, Jan. 28, losing 83-18.They play their final three home games of the season this week, with games against South Sevier on Friday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m., against Richfield on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 2:30 p.m., and against San Juan on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m.
Wrestling
The GCHS wrestling team competed versus San Juan and North Sanpete on Thursday, Jan. 23 in its final tune-up before the postseason. Landon Moralez had a pinfall victory and a forfeit victory; and Blane Thompson earned one pinfall win and one pinfall loss, while other matches resulted in either GCHS losses or one team forfeiting. The 3A Divisionals take place on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield.
