The Green River Pirate boys’ basketball team had a busy Friday and Saturday. On Friday, they found themselves in Junction to face the Piute Thunderbirds, losing 48-36. Then on Saturday, they welcomed the Wendover Wildcats to town and claimed an 83-53 win.
The Pirates sit at 6-6 overall after the pair of games and are in the No. 6 spot in the latest MaxPreps and Utah High School Activities Association rankings. They have one game remaining before they jump into region play on Friday when they travel to take on Whitehorse.
On Friday, the Pirates traveled to take on the Piute Thunderbirds. The two teams played an incredible game, but at the end it was the Thunderbirds who came away with a 48-36 win.
In the opening quarter, you had to give the advantage to Piute, but not by much, as they did outscore the Pirates to take a slight 11-6 lead after one. Moving into the second quarter, the Pirates added a few more to the scoreboard, but it wasn’t enough to take over Piute, as they went into halftime up 23-14.
Green River and Piute played even in the third quarter which unfortunately meant that the Thunderbirds maintained their nine-point lead going into the final quarter. Green River had its largest scoring output in the fourth, putting up 13; however, the Thunderbirds scored 16 to close out the Pirates and take a 48-36 win.
Jason Hernandez scored nine for Green River. Jesus Escalante and Rolando Anguiano each scored seven, and David Mendez had six in the loss.
On Saturday, Green River welcomed the Wendover Wildcats to the gym and let out their frustrations, taking an 83-53 victory.
Green River jumped out early and never looked back, taking a 19-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second, things slowed a little bit, but the Pirates still maintained the lead they had built in the first quarter, going to halftime with a 32-23 lead.
In the third, who knows what was said in that locker room because Green River came out looking to put the game out of reach and end it, which they pretty much did, outscoring Wendover 36-12 in the quarter to take a commanding 68-35 edge to the fourth, which was really just a formality as both teams went through the motions and the Pirates closed out the Wildcats 83-53.
Hernadez had a career scoring 32 in the contest, going 5-9 from the three-point line while grabbing seven steals, six assists, and five rebounds. Escalante chipped in 19 with 14 rebounds and a pair of assists and steals, and Cristian Mendoza had 14 with 14 boards and five assists in the win.
The Pirates head back to the floor on Wednesday evening when they take on DeBeque. Tip-off is at 5:30.