On Friday evening, the Green River Pirates welcomed the No. 10 Monticello Buckaroos. This was the third time this season the two teams met, and, as in the other two, Green River was looking to come away with a win. The Pirates were the aggressor early, taking the lead and never looking back, taking a 58-40 win.

In the first two meetings, the Pirates defeated the Buckaroo.  On January 24, at home, Green River earned a 78-50 win behind Jason Hernandez’s 26 points. Just a couple of weeks ago, in the final regular-season meeting between the pair, Rolando Anguiano had 22 in the 63-26 win on the road.

Green River jumped out in the first and was able to hold Monticello to just 10 points in the quarter as they added 16 of their own to open up the lead early. Moving to the second quarter, the Pirates still controlled the pace of the contest, even slowing things down a bit, but were still able to carry a 28-17 lead to the locker rooms at halftime.

Monticello came out after the break and looked to make their move, and did, somewhat, as they outscored Green River 17-14, but were still unable to crack in the Pirates’ lead headed to the final eight minutes. After slowing things down in the third, Green River would speed it up again in the fourth, closing out the game on a 16-6 run to advance in the State Championships with the 58-40 win.

Hernandez led the Pirates with 19 points, six assists, and four steals. David Mendez scored 13 with six rebounds, and Anguiano had 12 with three rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots. Jesus Escalante scored 10 with eight rebounds, and Cristian Mendoza had four with 10 boards in the win.

The Pirates will advance to face the No. 2 Wayne Badgers (19-6, 8-2) on Thursday at Salt Lake Community College. Last season, these two squads faced off on February 6 in Green River, with the Pirates coming away with a 56-48 win.

The game is set for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off.

Click HERE and follow the links to watch the live feed on kslsports.com.