San Juan boys basketball season comes to a premature close with tough 50-36 road loss to Parowan in state tournament second round

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School boys basketball team entered the 2023 Utah 2A State Basketball Tournament as underdogs this past weekend, ranked ninth and forced into a long road trip to Parowan to take on the #8 Rams in the second round.
The Broncos had beaten their opponent in both of their regular season meetings, 56-52 on January 6 and 61-58 on February 1.
But from the opening tip this past Friday, February 17 the defending 2A State Champs were flat. Parowan jumped all over San Juan, opening a 14-6 first-quarter lead, then extending it to 27-15 at the half.
The Broncos never really threatened in the game. The Rams led by double digits the rest of the way and eliminated San Juan 50-36. It was an uncharacteristic season-ending loss for a team that had battled every step of the way to that point.
Despite their disappointment, Bronco players and coaches have no reason to hang their heads. They fought hard through much adversity and though it doesn’t end like they wanted it to, it was still a good season.
The team was 8-16 on the year and 4-6 in 2A Region 19 play. They averaged 53.8 points per game while allowing 62.
San Juan shot 36 percent from the floor this season (445 of 1,241). They were 27 percent from beyond the arc (139 of 515) and 59 percent from the free throw line (263 of 444).
Junior Anthony Done led the team offensively, averaging 12.5 points per game. He scored 299 points in 24 games.
He was the team’s best overall shooter, hitting 124 of 234 shots for 53 percent. He was the best two-point shooter this season, going 118 of 210 from inside the arc for 56 percent.
Done was San Juan’s best rebounder with 134 boards on the year. He tallied a team-leading 83 assists and 48 steals. And he hit six three-point baskets on the year.
Senior Collin Baker averaged 10.6 points per game for the Broncos – 254 total points in 24 games. He collected 128 rebounds and hit 11 three-point baskets this season.
Baker was credited with 42 assists, third-most on the team, and 37 steals, which was tied for second-most. His effort in the last three weeks of the season was a big part of San Juan’s success.
Senior Garrett Young finished the season with 8.2 points per game. He hit 27 threes (second-most), pulled down 69 rebounds, collected 54 assists (second-most), and 37 steals (tied for second-most).
Senior Jerzy Nieves was the team’s fourth-leading scorer, despite the fact that he went down with an injury midway through the season and only appeared in 11 games.
That tells you how much the Broncos missed him when they lost him. Nieves scored 88 points in those 11 games for an average of 8.0 per game. He had 33 rebounds, 15 assists, and 17 steals.
Junior RJ Dalley scored 137 points in 21 games for the Broncos, an average of 6.5 per game. He led the team in three-pointers with 36 treys on the year and pulled down a solid 59 rebounds.
Rounding out the top five among active players was senior Ian Johnson who scored 119 points in 24 games for an average of 5.0 per game.
Johnson did a lot of work from the outside. He was the team’s third-best three-point shooter with 26 buckets from beyond the arc this year.
Though he didn’t go to the free throw line super regularly, he led the team in foul shooting, hitting 15 of his 19 attempts for 79 percent. Johnson collected 53 rebounds, 18 assists, and 22 steals on the season.
Other significant contributors for San Juan in 2022-23 included freshman Jagger Nieves (42pts, 2.8ppg, 1 three, 33reb, 15ast, 5stl), junior Justice Black (37pts, 2.8ppg, 5 threes, 22reb, 5ast, 1stl), senior Dakota Long (45pts, 2.3ppg, 8 threes, 24reb, 17ast, 4stl), sophomore Jake Ivins (34pts, 1.8ppg, 50reb, 23ast, 13stl), and junior Brigham Nielson (25pts, 1.5 ppg, 2 threes, 34reb, 19ast, 18stl),
After returning home from the tough trip to Parowan and after a couple days of reflection, Bronco Head Coach Jeff Johnson expressed some thoughts to the San Juan Record on the season, his team, and the future.
“With the ups and downs this season brought, the most rewarding part was watching the team persevere and continue to work hard every day,” he wrote.
“It would have been easy for the team to throw in the towel early on but they showed their fight and resilience to continue working and improving each day.
“The attitude at practice was always on a high level. I am so proud of the seniors, Collin Baker, Ian Johnson, Dakota Long, Garrett Young, and Jerzy Nieves.
“At the beginning of the season we were not sure where the leadership would come from. But each of the seniors stepped up and took different leadership roles.
“I have no doubt that each of these young men will be successful in life and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them. They were all asked to do hard things this year and they did them with a good attitude even when they weren’t getting the results they wanted and deserved.
“We also had lots of underclassmen step up and play huge roles for our team this year. Anthony Done, RJ Dalley, Brigham Nielson, Keaton Ivins, Jake Ivins and Jagger Nieves all played big roles for us.
“Anthony was a starter all year and improved all year long and really became a go-to guy when we needed a bucket.
“Between injuries and transfers we lost four players we figured would have roles on the varsity team this year. As we continued to plug those holes the younger boys stepped up and gave us some great minutes. Their level up play improved a ton over the course of the year.
“I have been lucky to be a part of San Juan Basketball for the last five years and have been able to be a part of some truly great teams.
“This team will always be special because of the effort and attitude they came with every day and the amount of improvement they made as individuals. I can’t wait to continue to watch them develop as players and humans.”