| Jace Vetere heads for the basket. |
Having finished 8th last season at State and having no seniors on that team, this year’s Green River boy’s basketball team was looking for a better finish at the state tournament. Just as in several other tournaments held this year, the seeding was not in the favor of Green River and the team came home after a loss on Friday.
Green River’s half of the bracket included number 1 Duchesne, number 2 Layton Christian and number 4 Piute. Green River opened the tournament in Richfield with a three-point victory over Altamont. Final score was 61-58. The Pirates next played Piute and suffered a 3-point overtime loss to put the team in the consolation bracket. Final score was 52-49. On Friday, Green River played Duchesne, who had lost to Layton Christian the day before, and lost 68-60 to end their state play.
Against Altamont, it was the second quarter that put the Pirates up and allowed them to grab the win. Both teams tied in scoring in the first and third periods, Altamont won the fourth quarter by three as it was the 20-14 second period that gave Green River the win.
Kaden Robertson and Kaleb Fail led the team with a combined 41 points and 7 three-pointers. Robertson had 21 and 3 while Fail had 20 and 4. Brent Johnson also finished in double figures with 10 points. Other scoring was by Brennan Bigelow with 2 points, Adrian Lucero with 5 points and Jace Vetere with 3 points.
Against Piute, Piute hit a three-point shot with three seconds remaining in overtime to snatch the win. Green River did not get a shot off to send the game to a second overtime. Piute led after the first quarter 17-15 and at the half 28-26. The Pirates tied the score in the third period at 35-35 and the score was tied at the end of regulation 43-43. Piute then outscored Green River 9-6 in overtime to get the win.
Johnson led the way with 16 points while Fail had 15 points as he hit another 3 three-pointers. Vetere knocked down 2 three-pointers and finished with 12 points. Robertson scored 6 points to close out the Pirate scoring.
Against Duchesne, Green River grabbed the early lead but saw Duchesne grab the lead with big second and third quarters. The score after one period was 21-16 for the Pirates. At the half it was 35-33 for Duchesne and after three it was 49-40 for Duchesne. Green River won the final period 20-19 but it was not enough to grab a win.
Robertson led the way with 23 points as he hit 5 three-pointers in the game. Vetere scored 16 points and hit 3 three’s. Johnson was also in double figures with 14 points. Fail had 3 points and Bigelow and Lucero each had 2 points.