Coming off a loss to Delta and still hunting for their first region victory of the season, the Carbon Dinos made the trip down I-80 to take on the Richfield Wildcats. A barrage of threes led by Richfield senior Griffin Wayman led Carbon to lose their third straight and fall to 0-3 in region play.

There’s an adage that when playing a road game, you start the game down to eight to 10 points. This was the case, as to open the contest, Richfield gained a double-digit lead, forcing the Dinos to take a timeout. This is exactly what was needed for Carbon to regroup. After they broke the huddle, the group stormed back into the game to make it a six-point affair, 19-13, after one.

In the second quarter, Richfield cracked the game open. Led by Wayman and fellow senior Gage Yardley, the Wildcats bombed threes en route to scoring 21 points in the frame. Carbon didn’t stop battling, however. Senior Evan Lancaster got the hot hand for the Dinos, hitting a pair of triples and scoring six of Carbon’s eight second-quarter points. The Dinos entered the half down 41-21.

The third quarter was a much more evenly matched affair, with each squad trading buckets. Richfield would only outscore Carbon by three, making it a 61-38 ballgame heading into the final frame.

Carbon would outscore the Wildcats in the fourth quarter, an effort aided by sophomore Carter Branch and Case Griffeth, who added four and six points to the effort respectively. Cannon and Ty Mortensen were also integral to the Dino’s offense, combining for 17 points. This would be too little, too late, as Richfield cruised to a 75-53 win.

Leading the Dinos in scoring was Lancaster, who finished with 11. Senior Maxwell Carlson had eight, Ty Mortensen finished with nine, Cannon Mortensen with eight and Griffeth with six.

With the loss, Carbon moves to 1-8 on the season (0-3 region12). They will now have a few days rest before traveling to Cedar City to participate in the Steve Hodson Cancer Classic on Thursday, Dec. 26 through Saturday, Dec. 28. Here they will face the Hurricane Tigers, the Panguitch Bobcats and the Parowan Rams.