Buckaroo boys bball team picks up first win

The Monticello boys basketball team went 1-2 in the past week, getting their first win of the season in Colorado before heading to the 1A Preview in Richfield, UT over the weekend.

Monticello opened the week on December 7 in Dove Creek against the Bulldogs. The game started with Landon Ewart winning the opening tip and Easton Young taking and making the first shot of the night. 

From there the first quarter turned into a slow defensive back-and-forth, with the Bucks holding the lead 6-5 after one quarter with Young and Boston Freestone adding one more bucket each. 

In the second quarter, baskets began to fall for the Buckaroos with Boston Freestone scoring 12 points and Easton Young and Landon Ewart adding a three each to give the Bucks a 24-19 lead at halftime.

Monticello extended their lead in the third quarter to 37-27 as the game entered the final eight minutes.

After making unsuccessful late game pushes in their first two contests of the season, the Buckaroos found themselves protecting a lead in the fourth quarter against Dove Creek.  

Monticello head coach Josh Keyes said holding on to a lead in the end is one of the hardest things to do in basketball.

“You’re trying to run the clock off, get good quality possessions,” he explained. “They hit a couple of shots and made it interesting there towards the end.”

The Bulldogs’ late game push cut the lead to three points late in the fourth quarter, but Monticello was able to seal the victory with a final score of 47-42.

Monticello’s scoring came from a two-pronged attack courtesy of Young and Freestone, who each had 22 points, with Ewart adding three.

Freestone also earned a double-double on the night, securing ten rebounds for Monticello. Ewart had nine, and Young had seven. Tommy Sheeran had four rebounds, while JD McDonald had three.

Freestone also had five steals. Young and McDonald had three steals while Donavan Atwood had two and McDonald had one.

Freestone also had three assists, while Young and Ewart had two and Atwood had one.

One statistical category Keyes hopes to see improvement in is free throws. Monticello shot 7 of 17 at the line for 41 percent.

“Free throws are tough, especially for guys that are inexperienced,” said Keyes. “It’s hard to simulate.

“We run the daylights out of them in practice and then shoot free throws to simulate that tired, that heart rate, and that fatigue. It’s so hard to do that.

“It’s the loneliest place on the planet, next to a pitcher’s mound in a baseball game. That free throw line is lonely.”

All around, Keyes had high praise for the team following the win.

“I can’t ask those kids to play any harder than the way they played tonight,” said Keyes. “They just played hard from start to finish, and when things weren’t going well they just played harder.”

Monticello will play Dove Creek again this Friday, December 17 at the Bulldog Classic in Dove Creek, before hosting the Bulldogs again in February.

On Friday and Saturday, Monticello traveled to the 1A Preview in Richfield to take on two of the top three teams in the state as ranked by the Deseret News.

Monticello dropped their Friday game to Bryce Valley 46-25, and their Saturday game to Piute 61-34.

In the first quarter against Bryce Valley, the Buckaroos held the Mustangs to just seven points, while Monticello had one made basket by Freestone. 

In the second quarter, the Mustangs were able to break the defensive struggle, scoring 18 second quarter points while the Bucks added one Freestone three and a Sheeran free throw.

Monticello went into the half trailing 25-6. In the third quarter, Monticello held Bryce Valley to just 11 points, but only added two more themselves.

Trailing 36-8 after three quarters, Monticello was unable to make a comeback in the fourth despite outscoring Bryce Valley 17 to 10 in the final frame.

Shots just weren’t falling for the Buckaroos who shot 11 percent from the field on the game. 

Freestone scored nine points, while Young had five. Curtis Bunker added four points for the Bucks, Sheeran had three, while Ewart and Atwood had two each.

In their game against Piute, Freestone had 19 points while Atwood had 7, Young had five, and Ewart had three.

The Buckaroos started out strong, leading much of the first quarter, but then Piute began to pull away and ultimately secured a 61-34 win.