The Grand County High School (GCHS) boys basketball team won two games and lost one at the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic in Cedar City Dec. 26-28, while the girls basketball team had two scheduled winter break games postponed.
The GCHS Red Devils won their first game in the Classic on Thursday, Dec. 26, 79-53 over American Preparatory Academy out of West Valley City, a game in which Luke Williams had 22 points, Eli Hazlett had 16 and Kaine Allred had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The following night, the Red Devils beat Camp Williams 69-58. This time, Allred was the leading scorer with 23 points, while Hazlett had 19. Milo Birdwell had nine points for the second consecutive night. In the game, GCHS hit 12 three-pointers and out-rebounded the Marauders 44-31.
GCHS couldn’t carry the momentum over for night three as Saturday they shot an abysmal 31% from the field and only attempted seven free throws in a 61-38 loss to Parowan. Ryelan Jones scored 10 points for GCHS as the only player above six points for the Red Devils. Parowan, meanwhile, had three players in double digits.
GCHS boys basketball coach Scott Horton said the Red Devils came out flat against the Rams.
“They’re the best team in 2A,” Horton said of Parowan. “They’re going to beat a lot of 3A teams. If you don’t play your best basketball, you’re not going to be able to beat them.”
The Red Devils return to their home floor for their next contest on Wednesday, Jan. 8, versus Grand Junction, Colorado.
“I guarantee (Grand Junction) is double the size of us, so we’re going to have to play our best basketball to win,” Horton said.
Horton said the Red Devils will be in better shape to continue the season having played during winter break. “It’s a lot better than sitting around waiting for a game in January,” he said. “It keeps the kids busy and in shape.”
The Steve Hodson Cancer Classic was played in honor of Steve Hodson, a former high school and college basketball coach who coached Cedar High School and Canyon View High School to a combined four state titles before coaching at Southern Utah University until his death from Multiple Cell Myeloma Cancer in 2008. This year’s classic marked the 10th year of the event, and the money raised went to help three families battling cancer in the Cedar City area.
“To me that’s a fight where we’ve got to do whatever we can to help,” Horton said.
The girls basketball team fell short in a pair of lopsided losses right before the break to fall to 0-6, losing 57-20 versus Green River on Dec. 19 and 60-22 versus American Leadership Academy on Dec. 21. The Lady Red Devils were scheduled to play at North Sevier on Dec. 27 and at Gunnison on Dec. 28, but those games were pushed to 2020. The GCHS girls will now play Tintic in Moab on Friday, Jan. 3, then play road games versus both North Sevier and Gunnison on Saturday, Jan. 4. The Lady Red Devils’ next home game is Jan. 14 versus Emery.
GCHS girls have two winter break games postponed
When: Wednesday, Jan. 8, 7 p.m.
Where: Grand County High School, 608 S. 400 East
