Going into Thursday’s 1A boys basketball quarterfinals, Panguitch’s Bobcats knew they would be facing a formidable and very familiar opponent in the Piute Thunderbirds.
The Bobcats were able to outpace Piute to secure a 58-46 win.
“They’re a tough matchup and we’ve had battles through the years,” said Panguitch coach Clint Barney.
Included in those battles are three other games the two teams have played against each other this season — two during the regular slate of region games and one more during the Region 20 tournament.
Piute won all of them.
“This was an exact repeat of our region tournament where we played them in the semifinals and they got us,” Barney said. He said he was glad to be able to come up with the win.
Thursday’s game started out with the Thunderbirds taking an early lead as Gavin Morgan weaved his way through the Panguitch defense for three buckets.
Jaden Westwood fired off a 3-pointer for Piute, while teammate Brooks Dalton also contributed a field goal and a foul shot. Kelby Jessen also laid in a shot in to help Piute capture a 16-10 edge in the first period.
Panguitch began the close the gap in the second, as Kyler Bennett hit two shots from the foul line and another from beyond the arc. Klyn Fullmer and Ryker Hatch also hit from inside to help draw Panguitch closer, ending the half with Piute up 24-21.
“We had nine turnovers in the first half, and that’s too many possessions against a team like Piute,” Barney said. He said the team made a defensive adjustment during the break, pitting Fullmer against Piute’s 6-foot-8 Kelby Jessen.
“He did a heck of a good job,” Barney said.
From there is was a matter of settling in, getting good looks at the basket and hitting foul shots, according to Barney.
“We’ve not been a great free-throw shooting team,” Barney said. However, during the Piute game, the Panguitch boys hit 12 of 13 shots from the charity stripe.
“Against good teams you need to make free throws,” Barney said.
Panguitch will be facing another Region 20 team in the semifinals Friday: Valley.
Valley was able to eke out a 47-45 win over Bryce Valley, another Region 20 team.
“This year it was just kind of a weird thing that four of the Region 20 teams were in the upper bracket,” Barney said. “I think when we saw the bracket, we all put our heads down a little knowing that we had to get through each other.”
It also means one of the teams in Saturday’s championship game will come from Region 20 this year.
Panguitch is set to take on Valley at 7 p.m. Friday at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield.
from Deseret News https://ift.tt/3ech5Vk
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