San Juan boys narrowly miss big upset at 2A state basketball tourney

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School boys basketball team was looking for a big upset when they traveled to Orem on Sunday, February 22. The Broncos were set to face the top-ranked 2A team, Kanab, in the Utah State Quarterfinals the next morning.
It was the first trip to the quarterfinal round for San Juan since the team won the 2A State Championship in 2022. The game tipped off just after 11:00 a.m. on Monday, February 23.
Right from the start the Broncos found themselves playing from behind as the Cowboy three-point shooting was quick out of the gate. As the buzzer sounded to end the opening quarter San Juan was down by seven, 17-10.
Like they did all season though, the Broncos showed their heart when they battled back for a strong second quarter, pulling themselves back to within five points at the halftime break, 32-27.
San Juan maintained momentum and continued their strong play in the third quarter, gaining two more points to trail Kanab by just three heading into the final frame, 47-44.
It was a battle of wills and a much more defensive finale than the rest of the game had been. The teams combined for just 12 total points in the fourth quarter.
Sadly those points were spread evenly with both Kanab and San Juan scoring six each. Down 53-50 with just seconds remaining in the game the Broncos called a timeout.
They ran a play hoping to get secret weapon Randall Black the ball with an opportunity to hit a three-point basket to send the game to overtime. But the Kanab defense thwarted that effort and Jagger Nieves found himself with the ball with time expiring.
Though he didn’t get a good look, Nieves put up a shot that went toward the basket but missed the rim. The ball bounced out of bounds as time expired on the game.
It was a tough loss for sure and was their third loss against the Cowboys this season. Despite that fact, the Broncos played Kanab tougher than most of their other opponents this year
All three meetings went down to the wire until Kanab was able to pull out victories in all three. And even though San Juan fell in the quarterfinals, there were some outstanding performances by a number of Broncos.
Cole Duke led all scorers with a 16-point game. He hit San Juan’s lone three-point bucket and also pulled down five rebounds in the loss.
Tripp Palmer was right behind Duke with a 15-point effort. He collected six rebounds, 5 assists, four blocked shots, and one steal.
Jagger Nieves tallied 11 points with five rebounds and three assists. George McNaughtan scored six points and collected four rebounds and four assists.
Brigg Palmer rounded out the scoring for San Juan with two points. He also had three rebounds and two assists on the day.
One of the main keys to the game was Kanab’s three-point shooting. The Cowboys were 66 percent from beyond the arc, hitting 12 threes in the game. It’s tough to defend a team that gets hot from long range.
The quarterfinal loss eliminated the Broncos from state title contention, but they were still alive in the fifth-place bracket. On Tuesday, February 24 they faced an equally-tough opponent in Rowland Hall.
San Juan again was a little slow out of the gate as the fifth-seeded Winged Lions started strong in the fifth-place semifinal, specifically in the long-range shooting department.
The Broncos trailed 24-11 after one quarter. Despite a valiant effort, they were not able to make up much ground for the remainder of the game this time as their season came to a close with a tough 67-50 loss.
The young Miller brothers were almost unstoppable for Rowland Hall. Sophomore Jrue hit an astounding eight three-pointers and scored 30 points in the game. Freshman Jevin added two threes and scored 18 points.
San Juan never quit, battling to the very end despite the double-digit deficit all game. Jagger Nieves led the way offensively in the final game of the season with 18 points.
He hit the Broncos’ only three-pointer in the game, pulled down four rebounds, and assisted on two buckets.
Tripp Palmer registered a double-double in his final game 17 points and ten rebounds. He blocked two Rowland Hall shots in the loss.
Four other Broncos scored in the game, including Brigg Palmer with five points, Cole Duke and Baylor Nielson with four each, and Randall Black with two.
San Juan finished the season with a 16-11 overall record. They were a very impressive 10-1 at home, 6-8 on the road, and 0-2 at neutral sites.
Three Broncos averaged double-digit scoring on the season. Tripp Palmer led the way with 17.4 points per game (469 points in 27 games).
Jagger Nieves averaged 10.6 points per game for San Juan this season (327 points in 26 games). And Cole Duke sported a 10.6 ppg with 287 points in 27 games.
Baylor Nielson scored at a nice pace of seven points per game, with 190 points in 27 games. George McNaughtan rounded out the top five for San Juan with a 5.2 ppg (140 points in 27 games).
Cash Palmer scored 97 points this season. Brigg Palmer tallied 53. Beau Yeomans got 31 before his season was cut short with an injury.
Randall Black scored 25 points for the Broncos, Max Stearns got 13, Jonah John five, and Andrew Nielson and Kreed Herring contributed four apiece.
Baylor Nielson led the team with 41 three-pointers on the season. Nieves scored 35 and Duke hit 34. Tripp Palmer was the strongest rebounder this year with 322.
Nieves collected 178 boards, McNaughtan 157, and Duke 151. Nieves had a team-high 109 assists. Duke and Nieves had 43 and 42 steals respectively. Tripp Palmer blocked 27 shots and McNaughtan blocked 17.
Following the conclusion of the season Bronco Head Coach Easton Nielson offered his thoughts. “When I think about this season I feel so much positivity,” he stated.
“Each year we continue to grow and get better. This year we made it back into the state tournament and narrowly missed a big win in the quarterfinal. Each one of our teams competed hard and came a long way.
“I’m especially proud of the senior leadership that drove our team forward in the hardest moments. Like any basketball season there were highs and lows.
“Day in and day out it’s a grind for four straight months and our players did an awesome job keeping things fun and competitive.
“We finished the year playing with the very best of teams. We strive for that each year and I’m proud of this group for taking another big step forward for our program.”
San Juan will lose a big chunk of their team with six players graduating at the end of the school year. They bid farewell to Tripp Palmer, Jagger Nieves, Cole Duke, Baylor Nielson, George McNaughtan, and Cash Palmer.
The Broncos will be looking for a number of young players to step up and continue to move the program forward when the new season tips off again in eight months.