Bronco boys overcome two deficits in exciting overtime win against Beaver

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
Since their matchup with South Sevier on January 14 the San Juan High School boys basketball team didn’t play a single game until they finally hit the court again this past Friday, January 27 against Beaver in Blanding.
Coming into the Region 19 contest the Beavers were 3-12 and ranked 18th in the 2A RPI standings. The Broncos were 5-12, ranked tenth. It was a game San Juan expected to win, but the rust from nearly two full weeks off showed.
Beaver opened the scoring with a three-point basket from Tate Gale and though the Broncos took a brief 7-5 lead, the Beavers built a 16-9 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
San Juan turned the tables to outscore their opponent 15-9 and pull to within one point at halftime. But neither team was shooting well in the game. The teams’ scoring difficulties at times this season have been extremely similar.
Beaver regained the advantage in the third quarter, outscoring San Juan 13-9 to take a five-point lead into the final frame.
It took the Broncos the entire quarter, but they finally rallied to overcome their second deficit in the game, tying it 52-52 on Ian Johnson free throws with a minute left.
San Juan had one possession in the final minute and Beaver had two, but neither team was able to score as the buzzer sounded to conclude regulation time. The Broncos were headed to overtime for the first time this season.
The teams traded points in the overtime period until, with 7.6 seconds left, Garrett Young stepped to the free throw line and calmly drained both of his shots, giving San Juan a 61-60 lead.
Beaver ran the ball across the time line with three seconds to go, but Deegan Blackner dribbled it off his own foot and out of bounds, turning the ball over to the Broncos. San Juan inbounded and Collin Baker protected the ball to secure a thrilling 61-60 overtime win.
Bronco foul shooting had been dismal for most of the game but they got them when they really needed them, specifically in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Ironically, it was foul shooting that sent the game into overtime and ultimately closed out the win. San Juan was 5-of-6 from the line in the overtime period. They finished the night 21-of-35 but they were just 2-of-8 in the first quarter and 9-of-18 after three.
It was truly a team effort as the Broncos overcame their rust for the key region win. For the first time this season they had four players score in double digits.
Collin Baker led the way with 19 points. Anthony Done scored 15. And Garrett Young and RJ Dalley both got ten apiece. Ian Johnson added four in the win, Jake Ivins had a couple, and Jagger Nieves got one.
The victory may have come a little easier were it not for the Broncos’ major struggles from beyond the arc, where the rust really showed. They got two three-pointers from RJ Dalley on the night, but that was it, and they ended the game just 2-of-21 for nine percent.
Collin Baker pulled down an impressive 12 rebounds in the win while Garrett Young had eight. Anthony Done had five steals and Young snagged three.
The win moved San Juan up to ninth place in the standings and on the next night, Saturday, January 28, they put together one of their best games of the season against the #3 Kanab Cowboys.
In the teams’ first meeting on January 7 Kanab won easily 71-49. But on this night San Juan went toe-to-toe with their opponents, trailing by just three after one quarter and six at the half.
To start the second half it looked like the Cowboys might run away with it after all. They scored 11 straight points to open a 37-20 lead on the Broncos two-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter.
Amazingly though, San Juan began a steady rally that ultimately pulled them back to within five points, and nearly three with 3:30 left in the game.
Kanab survived the onslaught however, scoring back-to-back buckets to reestablish a ten-point lead. San Juan was able to pull back to within six but at that point they were simply out of time and the Cowboys closed out a 58-51 win.
Again three-point shooting plagued the Broncos. They were five of 30 on the night and had they gotten two or three more to fall, they quite possibly could have upset Kanab. They continued to struggle a bit from the free throw line as well, finishing just 12 of 22 for 55 percent.
Still, it was another good team effort and bodes well headed down the home stretch of the season. When Ian Johnson was injured on a tough play early in the second half, the team came together to give the Cowboys a solid scare.
“I can’t be more proud of how hard the boys played tonight,” San Juan Head Coach Jeff Johnson said after the game. “They know they took one of the better teams...that has a good chance to take state and outplayed them if we had just knocked down a couple more shots.”
“If we keep playing like we are, one of these days we’re going to have a game where we’re on and we’re going to smoke someone,” he added.
Garrett Young had his best game of the season with 14 points even though he fouled out in the fourth quarter. Anthony Done also scored 14 points in the loss with Collin Baker adding eight, Jake Ivins six, RJ Dalley five, Ian Johnson three, and Keaton Ivins one.
Young drained three treys in the game. Johnson and Dalley hit one apiece. Done led with ten rebounds, Jake Ivins had six, and Baker pulled down five.
Despite the loss the Broncos remain in ninth place to begin this week. They are still in the hunt to earn a home game in the second round of the state tournament but they would need to move up to eighth.
In order to accomplish that they must take care of Parowan and Beaver again and find a way to upset either Enterprise or South Sevier. It’s going to be a very busy finish to the regular season over the course of the next couple weeks.
This week the Broncos close out the season series with Parowan at home on Wednesday, February 1 before hitting the road to take on Enterprise and South Sevier Friday and Saturday, February 3-4.
All three games will be broadcast on Redrock 92 with streaming video on pictureitpalmer.com. Tips for Wednesday and Friday’s games are set for 7 p.m. with Saturday’s contest starting at 4 p.m.