Coach Rhett Simanton said “As a group we played some really great team basketball on both ends of the floor this weekend. It is a great confidence boost going forward and we hope to continue playing that way. “

The Pioneers had a successful weekend with two big wins against Cascade and Turner. Two very big wins for the boys team, with the first one against Cascade winning by 2 points with a final score of 65-63. They then turned around and beat Tuner in overtime by 3 points with a final score of 51-48.

Cascade had a post player that was dominating all throughout the game, and the Pioneers had a tough time blocking him out and stopping him from scoring. But even with their big man scoring the Pioneers had great play from everyone! Eli Dixon had a nice take and got to the free throw line, and also got a big rebound. Lane had 14 points in the first quarter along with big rebounds by Karter Jurenka and some hustle plays to get steals and save a ball from a turnover. Eyon Sherburn also had a nice rebound and put back and take to the basket, as well as Ryder Galbavy having a 3-pointer and rebound. The Pioneers went up 6 points with a score of 22-16.

The 2nd quarter started off with a steal from Lane, and big boards from Eyon, Ryder, and Karter. Cascade had some big buckets and pulled the game within 4 points with some great takes and dumps down low to their big man. Aidan Morsette had a nice take as well to put some points on the board for the Pioneers. Going into halftime, both Karter and Lane had 3 fouls, but the Pioneers still on top by 9 points with a score of 38-29.

The second half was fast paced and intense with Cascade and Big Sandy both getting after it, up and down the court. Both teams were hitting big jump shots, and grabbing important rebounds. The Pioneers headed into the last quarter up 4 points with a score of 51-47.

The 4th quarter was the most intense with back and forth buckets, and the Badgers clawed their way back into the game to tie it up halfway through the quarter at 56 all. After a big Cascade three pointer, they came within 1 point with less than 20 seconds left. Aidan Morsette knocked down a HUGE 3-pointer with 9 seconds left. Cascade did their best and actually came down and tipped in a bucket with less than a second on the clock, but fell short, and the Pioneers won by 2 points with a final score of 65-63.

The Pioneers then turned around and played a very action packed, aggressive game against Turner, that had 12 lead changes. The refs set the tone early by letting the teams play hard. The Pioneers won in overtime with a score of 51-48.

The first 3 minutes were a bit rough for both teams with 7 turnovers, but then both teams got into a groove. The Pioneers dominated the boards, Karter Jurenka and Ryder Galbavy combined for 6 rebounds early. Lane Demontiney had 2 three pointers, Ryder had one, and Turner had the same. The Pioneers went into the 2nd quarter up 1 point after a big board from Eli Dixon, with a score of 10-9.

Aidan Morsette had a big quarter with great rebounds, hustle plays, and 4 points, with 2 of those points coming with 6 seconds left in the quarter. Karter also had a nice jumper and take to the basket. Karter had 6 rebounds by halftime. Ryder also had a lot of rebounds with 9 total boards by halftime. Lane had some good takes and rebounds to also help the Pioneers to a stay in the lead by one point with a score of 23-22.

The 3rd quarter started out with Aidan having another big quarter with 4 rebounds to help the Pioneers, and Eyon Sherburn had some strong takes to the basket. Turner went on a 7-2 run, but the Pioneers didn’t give up and got some great points off of some big boards and pushing the ball up the floor. The Pioneers continued to stay up by one point going into the last quarter with a score of 30-29.

Back and forth battles continued, with Turner taking a lead at one point by 4 points. After some really important and big rebounds from Ryder, as well as a 3 pointer, the Pioneers came back and tied the game after a Lane and Karter bucket with a chance to win the game at the free-throw line, but after a couple missed free throws, the game ended in overtime with a score of 39-39.

Overtime didn’t disappoint the fans with more action packed basketball starting off with a Karter AND1 from the tip off. Turner then turned around and scored on an up and under and strong take to the basket, and a fadeaway in the middle. But Ryder came back with a 3 pointer and tied the game back up. Aidan had a big rebound followed by a big rebound and putback from Lane, as well and 2 HUGE rebounds from Karter including a bucket to put the Pioneers up 51-45. Turner got a steal at the end of the game and threw up a three pointer at the buzzer, connecting with the bottom of the net, but falling short to the Pioneers by 3 with a final score of 51-48. Big Stats of the game were Karter with 15 rebounds and Ryder with 14 rebounds. Karter was one point away from a double double, and Ryder got a double double with his 10 points and 14 rebounds, Lane was also high scorer with 17 points.

In a makeup game during the week the Pioneers faced a very tough Box Elder team this past week, and they could not be stopped. They dominated all aspects of the floor. They touched almost every ball that was thrown, and got their hands on almost every rebound as well. They had a great shooting percentage and ran the floor like it was easy, scoring a lot of points off of fast break layups.

The Pioneers had some great things going for them though, even though the scoreboard didn’t show it. They were passing the ball around on offense and finding the open man, with great passes, unfortunately most of their shots were blocked or missed. They also were running the floor and communicating on defense. It was fun to watch the team playing as a team, even though the Pioneers struggled with the press from the Bears and had almost 20 turnovers at halftime. The score going into halftime was 9-45. Those 9 points came from a Ryder Galbavy layup, an Aidan Morsette 3-pointer, a Karter Jurenka take to the basket and a couple free throws from Ryder and Eli Dixon.

The Pioneers came out at halftime shooting from the floor a lot better with a 3-pointer from Ryder and a board and put-back from Karter. The Pioneers scored 19 points in the 3rd quarter, with Lane Demontiney having 13 of those points. The Pioneers also handled the pressure a lot better the second half and only had 2 turnovers the 3rd quarter.

The Pioneers continued to work hard and put some points on the board with a nice pass from Aidan to Ryder, and two three pointers from Eyon Sherburn. Aidan also had a big three pointer for the Pioneers. Ryder had a great steal and three pointer as well. Lane also had a big three pointer and take to the basket. But the Pioneers couldn’t get within range to get close to making a comeback and ended up losing by 35 points, with a final score of 49-84.