Five Broncos earn All-state honors

THE ROUND-UP
by Tad Barton
The Deseret News released their 2018 All-state volleyball teams last Tuesday, Dec. 4. San Juan was well represented, with five girls receiving All-state honors.
Bodell Nielson and Ta’ssi Su’esu’e were named First Team All-state. Delaney Palmer was named Second Team All-state, and Hope Holliday and Whitnie Ivins received Honorable Mentions.
These ladies and their teammates had a great season in which they were crowned Region 15 Champions and ultimately the 3A State runners-up.
Congratulations on a great season!
Boys basketball
The San Juan High boys basketball team picked up their first win of the season last Thursday, Dec. 6, defeating the Shiprock Chieftains 83-59 in the first round of the Marv Sanders Invitational Tournament in Farmington, NM.
The victory celebration was cut short the following day when the Broncos lost a very tightly contested game to Navajo Prep 55-50 before rebounding in the final game of the tournament to defeat Miyamura 67-61 on Saturday, Dec. 8.
In the opening game of the weekend, it didn’t take San Juan long to seize control of the game, as the Broncos bolted out to a 23-15 lead after one-quarter of play.
San Juan kept the pedal to the floorboard in the second quarter, adding another 26 points to their total while holding Shiprock to 15 points, giving the Broncos a 49-30 lead at the half.
After the intermission, the Broncos continued to play well, scoring 21 points to just 17 for the Chieftains, increasing San Juan’s lead to 23 points, 70-47. San Juan wrapped the game up by outscoring Shiprock in the fourth quarter as well, 13-12, giving the Broncos an 83-59 victory.
Day two of the tournament started off well for San Juan, as they faced off against Navajo Prep.
The game was extremely close throughout with the Eagles edging the Broncos in the first quarter, 12-10.
Trailing by two to start the second, San Juan went to work, outscoring Navajo Prep 16-11 in the period to take a three-point lead at halftime, 26-23.
The Eagles regained the upper hand over the Broncos in the third quarter, overcoming the halftime deficit to take a one-point lead into the final period, 38-37.
The two teams kept battling in the fourth quarter, but Navajo Prep was able to pull away down the stretch, handing San Juan a 55-50 loss.
On Saturday, Dec. 8, San Juan took on the Miyamura Patriots in the final game of the tournament. The Broncos found themselves in another hard-fought game against a quality opponent.
San Juan controlled the game for much of the first half, taking a 17-12 lead after one. That five-point lead was cut into in the second quarter, as the Patriots edged the Broncos 17-16, to trim the San Juan lead to four points after two quarters of play, 33-29.
Miyamura then opened the second half by building on their second quarter momentum, outscoring San Juan 15-9 in the third quarter, which gave the Patriots a 44-42 lead over the Broncos heading into the fourth.
San Juan saved their best for last as the Broncos had their biggest offensive output of the game in the final eight minutes of play, besting the Patriots by eight, 25-17, on their way to a 67-61 win.
San Juan now sits at 2-2 on the season with a single home game on the schedule this week on Friday, Dec. 14, against the Bayfield Wolverines. Tip-off for the varsity game will be at 7 p.m.
Girls basketball
While the boys were in New Mexico, the Lady Broncos were in Colorado playing at the Family Health West Wildcat Classic Tournament in Fruita.
San Juan dropped a pair of very close games, first on Thursday, Dec. 6, to Grand Junction 37-35 and then to Fruita-Monument 55-46. A final score for their third and final game of the weekend against Grand Junction Central was not available.
The Broncos are now 2-4 on the year with a match-up against the Bayfield Wolverines on Friday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.
Wrestling
The San Juan wrestling team was back in action this past week at the Dawg Fight Tournament hosted by the Dove Creek Bulldogs on Saturday, Dec. 8.
The Broncos finished the one-day event tied for sixth place with the host team.
In all, 11 teams competed from schools across the Four Corners area. Lymir Benn’s and Landon Black’s third-place finishes at 126 lbs and 132 lbs led the Broncos who had four wrestlers medal.
Seth Spackman and Landon Burke were the other Broncos who made podium appearances. Spackman finished fourth at 132 lbs and Burke placed fourth at 138 lbs.
Zack Palmer finished sixth at 145 lbs, and Tyrese Jones was eighth at 152 lbs.
The Broncos will be in Moab on Wednesday, Dec. 12 for a Dual against Grand before heading to the Manti Tournament in Manti, UT on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 14-15.
A full recap of those games and more will be included in the Dec. 19 edition of the San Juan Record.