On Friday night, the Carbon High Dino boys’ basketball team made a long trip to Delta to open postseason play. The Dinos entered the contest ranked 11th, with the Rabbits holding on to the No. 6 spot. This was not the first time these two teams had met this season, and though the Dinos did make things interesting in the fourth quarter, they fell 57-53.
These two squads met in December, just before the Christmas break, and Delta won 70-63. On Friday evening, the stakes were a bit higher, as it was win-or-go-home.
The Rabbits jumped out on the offensive in the first quarter, taking a 7-0 lead. Carbon would finally score at the 4:25 mark when Ty Mortensen hit one of two free throws to put Carbon on the board 7-1. Delta kept up their stifling defense on the Dinos throughout the first quarter and seemed to score at will, taking an 18-6 lead after one.
By the halfway point of the second quarter, the shots were still not falling for Carbon, and Delta could do no wrong as their defense intensified to push their lead to 27-11 with 4:20 left in the half. Carbon would struggle for the remainder of the quarter, a combination of Delta’s defense and the Dinos’ inability to protect the ball, as they committed 22 turnovers in the first half. Jaxon Bosone would hit a lay-up as time expired, and the Dinos went to the locker room down 33-17.
In the third, the Dinos had a strong offensive output, scoring 21, but they were unable to find a way past the Rabbits’ stout defense. Carbon cut into the lead, as they held Delta to 15 points and even got the lead down to 10 when Logan Bennett hit one of two free throws to get the score to 46-36 with 44 seconds left in the quarter.
In the fourth, it didn’t take long for Kyler Orth to get the lead down to single digits as he hit a bucket under the basket to get the score to 48-40. Scoring went stagnant in the quarter until Ty Mortensen found two points under the basket to cut even more into the Rabbit’s lead at 48-42 with four minutes left. After a pair of Mortensen free throws cut the lead to 48-44, a turnover on Delta’s inbounds pass allowed Carter Branch to cut the lead to 48-46. After an empty possession for Delta, a Mortensen jumper tied the score at 48-48. With a minute and a half left to go in the quarter, Caleb Sorenson found himself under the basket, putting it up and giving Carbon the lead 52-51. In the next Carbon possession, Sorensen was fouled hard and made one of two shots, putting the score at 53-51. That was as close as Carbon would get, as the rabbits went on a 6-0 run to close out the game and take a 57-53 win.
Cash Withers led the Dinos with 13 in the contest. Mortensen had 11, and Bennett and Bosone each scored six in the loss.
The Dinos end the 2025-2026 season at 9-14 overall, going 4-4 in Region 13 play and holding the No. 11 spot in the final rankings.
Check back with Castle Country Radio in the coming weeks for a review of the Carbon Dino boys basketball season.
You can watch the full contest against Delta by accessing the player below: