On Friday night, the Green River Pirates opened the region portion of their schedule on the road in Montezuma Creek, taking on the Whitehorse Raiders. The Pirates used a huge second quarter to take control of the game, then put the Raiders away in the 3rd and 4th quarters behind Jason Hernandez and Rolando Aguiano, as Green River won 87-51.

Green River sits at 8-6 overall, 1-0 in region play, and is ranked at No. 6 in the latest MaxPreps and Utah High School Activities Association rankings. With the season winding down, the Pirates have just eight games left before the state championships begin in the middle of February.

The first quarter was all Whitehorse as they doubled up the Pirates 16-8 heading into the second. It was the second quarter when Green River found its offense, dropping 37 points while holding Whitehorse to just 12, taking a 45-28 lead into halftime.

Coming out after halftime, the Pirates were looking to put the Raiders away, and that’s exactly what they did. Green River put up another 22 points while they held Whitehorse to 9 and headed to the 4th quarter up by 30, 67-37. Green River came out in the 4th and piled it on, adding another 20 points to their total and closing out the Raiders 87-67 to earn their first region win of the season.

Hernandez had a game for Green River, scoring 27 and adding seven assists, four steals, and three rebounds. Rolando Aguiano added another 22 points with eight steals, five rebounds, and five assists, while Jesus Escalante had 16 and five rebounds. Skyler Davis rounded out the scoring with 12 points, all on three-pointers, and Christian Mendoza added 10 points with eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals in the win for the Pirates.

The Pirates will jump back into region play on Saturday when Monument Valley comes to Green River.

Game time is set for 4:30 p.m..