San Juan boys basketball team upsets top 3A team, narrowly misses state title

This past weekend was a flurry of nonstop action for the San Juan High School boys basketball team. They headed to Richfield to enter the 2021 3A Utah State Boys Basketball Tournament as the #5 team in the state.

Nobody would have predicted they would play for a state championship on Saturday, February 27, but that’s exactly what they did. Wins over Grand in the quarterfinals on Thursday and #1 Grantsville on Friday propelled them to their first state title game in 22 years.

Throughout the tournament, the Broncos proved it was no fluke that they were in the title game against Juab. They were in the hunt through the end, and though they fell just short of a win on February 27, their runner-up finish is their best since winning the 2A championship in 1992.

When the dust settled on the 2021 edition of the 3A state tournament, San Juan had played in three of the most exciting games of the event. Players and coaches were amazed at the amount of community support they received at the Sevier Valley Center.

“We had some decent crowds at home and really good crowds for our last two games games, but against Juab it was like the whole town was there,” said Bronco Head Coach Travis Black.

“It was an awesome experience to see how much support we had and how many people don’t even know these boys but love San Juan basketball,” he explained. “Tons of people came down from up north and it was amazing.”

Coach Black also expressed gratitude to Redrock 92 Radio and PictureItPalmer.com for their live coverage of Bronco games throughout the season.

“A lot more kids caught the vision of ‘I want to be a part of that championship moment’ [because of the broadcasts],” Black explained. “If that’s what it takes to get a kid interested in basketball and practicing and putting time in, we’ll take it.”

Travis Black has led the Broncos to a 47-26 record in his first three seasons as head coach. He took them to the state quarterfinals in 2020 for the first time in five seasons, and narrowly missed a state championship this season.