Whitehorse boys and girls build experience

by David Boyle
News Director
Both Whitehorse High School basketball teams are getting valuable experience in the early weeks of the season.
The Raider boys traveled to the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield to play against top-ranked teams at the annual 1A Preview this past Friday and Saturday, December 9-10.
They opened the weekend against the Valley Buffalos and jumped out to a 7-3 lead over the #4 team according to the Deseret News.
From there Valley started hitting shots and rallied to lead 19-7 after one quarter and extended their lead to 27-14 at the half. Whitehorse scoring picked up in the second half but the Buffalos kept pace to close out the game with a 74-40 victory.
Lyric Phillips led Raider scoring with 15 points on five threes. Dominic Dance scored nine for the Raiders while D’Wayne Nakai scored six in the game.
Kai Yazzie had four points in the game while Camron Nakai, Larenz Tsosie, and Elam Etsitty scored two points each.
D’Wayne Nakai led the team with five rebounds and Tsosie finished with four. Etsitty and Dance had three boards each on the game.
Defensively D’wayne Nakai had two blocks on the game and four steals. Dance also had two steals in the game.
Whitehorse faced an even tougher opponent on Saturday, December 10 in the #2-ranked Panguitch Bobcats, last year’s state runners-up last year.
The Bobcats forced turnovers and ran in transition on the way to an 80-44 victory over the Raiders. Panguitch led 22-3 after the first quarter, 49-18 at halftime, and 65-28 after three quarters.
The Raiders were led in scoring on the game by D’Wayne Nakai who finished with 23 points including four threes. He hit seven of eight free-throw attempts. 
Phillips scored nine points in the game, while Dance added seven. Etsitty and Kaleb Joe scored two points in the game and Kalin Tohonnie added one point.
D’Wayne Nakai also led the team with three rebounds. Phillips, Yazzie, Etsitty, Joe, and Camron Nakai all had two boards in the game.
Phillips dished out two assists while Camron Nakai had one.
D’Wayne Nakai had six steals and a block in the game. Phillips and Camron Nakai recorded two steals in the game.
The Whitehorse girls basketball team had one contest last week, hosting the San Juan Broncos in a back-and-forth battle on Tuesday, December 6.
The Raiders led 11-6 after one quarter but the Broncos rallied to lead at the halftime break 24-17.
In the third quarter Whitehorse closed the gap to make the score 37-33. But San Juan pulled away in the fourth to make the final score 57-49.
Both Whitehorse teams hosted Navajo Pine on December 13 after the San Juan Record print deadline. 
The Raider boys head to Fort Wingate, NM to play in the Wingate Holiday Classic this Thursday through Saturday, December 15-17.