San Juan girls suffer season-ending loss at North Sevier at state

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School girls basketball team traveled to Salina on Tuesday, February 13 to face #13 North Sevier in the first round of the 2A Utah State Tournament.
The Lady Wolves jumped out to a 16-6 lead after one quarter, but the Lady Broncos rallied to outscore their opponent 12-5 in the second and make the score 21-18.
But North Sevier outscored San Juan 14-11 in the third quarter and 12-10 in the fourth and the Lady Broncos fell by a final of 47-39, bringing an end to their season.
Shaylin Nez led scoring for San Juan in the loss with 12 points including three three-pointers. C’ona Dandy poured in seven points with one three.
Kaidence Mitchell, Khimya Fullwood, and Synessa Atcitty all scored six points apiece, and Atcitty hit a three-point bucket. Macee Palmer rounded out the scoring with two points for San Juan.
The Lady Broncos ended the year with a 3-19 record ranked 20th in the 2A standings. They were 2-7 at home and 1-12 on the road.
Synessa Atcitty led scoring for the team this year with 182 points, an average of 8.27 per game. Kaidence Mitchell scored 118 points for San Juan (5.36 ppg).
Khimya Fullwood collected 109 points (4.96 ppg), Shaylin Nez got 106 (4.82 ppg), C’ona Dandy scored 76 (3.46 ppg), and Macee Palmer scored 61 (2.77 ppg).
Hayden Shumway scored 54 points this season, Ladainia Lopez scored 34, Tekowa Hernandez added 30, Syndel Atcitty got 15, Tzosilah Etsitty scored six, and Magenta Crane had two.
Shaylin Nez led the team with 25 three-point baskets this season, Synessa Atcitty hit 18, and C’ona Dandy got 14. Those three players accounted for the bulk of the long-range shooting.
Khimya Fullwood hit four threes, Ladainia Lopez collected three, and Macee Palmer and Kaidence Mitchell both scored one apiece on the campaign.
Following the completion of the season San Juan Head Coach Kade Palmer shared some thoughts on his second season in an email to the San Juan Record.
“If you only look at our record, it was a rough season,” he said. “But as a coach I am very proud of our team and all they were able to accomplish.
“The growth and development the girls made this year was very very impressive. We played well enough to beat a lot of teams, but just missed a lot of easy shots.
“I think the girls understood that and I think it finally clicked that they are going to have to put in a lot of time in the offseason.
“With that said, our junior varsity team that will take over varsity next year went 15-8 on the season. Our opponents better watch out because we have a lot of talent coming up and we are starting to get the buy-in to the program that we need.
“They say it takes at least four years to build a program at the high school level. This was only year two so I think we are moving in the right direction.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to work with these amazing young women and I look forward to seeing how much more they can grow next year.”