San Juan boys continue to establish momentum with two home wins

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School boys basketball team was looking to establish some momentum when they welcomed two teams to Blanding this past weekend for some early season action in their home gym.
On Friday, December 5 the Broncos hosted the 1A defending state champion Panguitch Bobcats. Though the offense was a little slow out of the gate the San Juan defense kept them in command.
The Broncos used a strong second quarter to establish a 23-13 lead at the halftime break. The teams traded buckets to deadlock the third quarter 10-10, but San Juan outscored Panguitch in the final frame 13-6 to close out a 46-29 win.
On Saturday, December 6 the Broncos welcomed Bayfield, CO to the San Juan High School gym. San Juan outscored the Wolverines 19-12 in the first quarter and 18-14 in the second to take a 37-28 lead into halftime.
But a dismal third quarter allowed Bayfield to climb back into the game, as they outscored the Broncos 15-9 to cut the deficit to 46-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
The home squad got back into gear though, winning the fourth quarter 23-16 and the game 69-57.
San Juan is continuing to hone their defensive game plan to ultimately lead the team to offense while stifling the opposition with their size, speed, and physicality.
The Broncos improved to 4-1 on the season with the wins this past weekend and are led by Tripp Palmer who has scored 66 points in those first five games for an average of 13.2 points per game.
Cole Duke is right behind Palmer after his excellent play over the weekend. Duke has 64 points for an average of 12.8 per game.
Jagger Nieves missed one of the games in the Broncos’ season-opening weekend, but he still sports a tally of 51 points, an average of 12.8 per game.
Baylor Nielson has 41 points for San Juan so far, an 8.2 average, and George McNaughtan rounds out the top five with 37 points, a 7.4 average.
Duke leads the team with six three-point buckets, Nieves has five, and Nielson and McNaughtan have two apiece so far this season.
Tripp Palmer leads San Juan in rebounding with 69 boards. McNaughtan has 43 so far and Duke has 32.
Nieves has a team-high 14 steals while Baylor Nielson and Cole Duke have 11 and ten respectively. McNaughtan and Tripp Palmer have six shot blocks each on the season.
The Broncos started this week off in Cortez, CO on Tuesday, December 9 against the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers.
On Wednesday, December 10 the team travels to Castle Dale to take on the Emery Spartans at 6 p.m.
Then the girls team will join in the fun as both teams host South Sevier on Saturday, December 13. The girls game tips at 3 p.m. with the boys starting at 4:30.
You’ll hear all three of those games live on Redrock 92 Radio with video on StreamUtah.Live and YouTube.