Even with two possible starters out, Lane Demontiney with a broken elbow, and Kody Strutz with a broken collar bone, both from playing football, it didn't stop the Pioneers from coming away with a win. (Ok, Kody came in for a short time at the end of the game). The Pioneers started in a man defense and got some nice buckets from Braydon Cline and Ryder Galbavy to start the game. Even though the Pioneers struggled to rebound in the 1st quarter, they had some great defensive blocks from Cooper Taylor. Rusty Gasvoda got into foul trouble early, but that didn't stop a few other players from stepping up and getting some steals. Ryder Galbavy had a nice defensive rebound, followed by a great post move on the other end of the floor. Jake Darlington got a nice alley-oop from Wylee Snapp to go up by 6 points to finish the 1st quarter.
The Pioneers started in a man defense in the 2nd quarter but switched to zone defense. DGS Wolves had some great looks at the basket but couldn't capitalize on them. The Pioneers took advantage of Bearcats turnovers, as well as fouls from DGS, to pull ahead. The Pioneer's efforts on the boards helped catapult them to a lead at the half, 31-18.
Bearcats started the 2nd half in a press, but the Pioneers had some great ball movement on offense, which led to a nice 3-pointer and drive to the basket from Braydon Cline. Ryder also dominated on the boards and got some nice putbacks. Foul trouble continued for Rusty Gasvoda and Braydon Cline, but the Pioneers finished the 3rd quarter strong, going into the 4th quarter ahead 47-34.
DGS came out with a vengeance in the 4th quarter, starting with a full-court man defense/press, which worked, making the Pioneers turn the ball over. They got back into the game with only nine points down, with 5:00 left to play. The Pioneers didn't give up and made some adjustments on offense with good passing and ball movement, which led to some easy buckets and brought the Pioneers back up top by 14 points. DGS had some desperation shots to try and come back, but the Pioneers pulled away with a win, beating the Wolves by 10 with a final score of 66-56.
The junior high was playing for Basketball Championship the same night, so only Coach Ryne Labuda was in Stanford. Ryne said, "I was very happy with our performance against DGS. The boys went out, worked hard, worked as a team, and took care of business. It's nice to have that first game out of the way so that we can evaluate where we're at and work on the things that we need to work on."
Scoring stats: Braydon Cline 21, Cooper Taylor 13, Wylee Snapp 13, Ryder Galbavy 13, Jake Darlington 4, and Dolan Sunchild 2
