The Pioneer boys basketball team faced a couple of tough teams this past weekend and did it without two starters gone due to illness and injury. Friday night was senior night as they faced a good Fort Benton team, and on Saturday, they traveled to Box Elder to face the State Champions from last year. The young Pioneer team had a hard time with both very mature, experienced teams, but there was light throughout the games, as this Pioneer team continues to work hard and gives it all they got each game.
Friday night on senior night, Sonny Phillips started the Pioneers off with a great layup, putting the Pioneers on the board 2-0. Tommy Sant then followed with a free throw, putting them up 3-2, but unfortunately, Fort Benton scored 18 points in the last 2 minutes of the quarter, putting the Pioneers down by 23 points after the 1st quarter. Jayton Ophus scored on a nice rebound and putback; he also got a block and a steal. Adian Morsette also grabbed two rebounds, and Jaesun Yirsa had a nice block. Braxton Hajenga scored on a 3-pointer and also had a steal.
The Pioneers also had a great quarter from Travis Wilford in the second quarter. Travis grabbed three rebounds and got a steal. Jayton got another block and a bucket from a great pass from Jaesun. Jaesun also got a rebound and scored twice on a nice take to the basket and a free-throw line jumper. The Pioneers also had other rebounders in Colter Han, Josh Hagan, and Braxton. The Pioneers went into halftime down 32 points with a score of 17-49.
In the 2nd half, the Pioneers had some great contributions from Tommy, with a nice pass to Jayton for a score and a rebound. Jayton scored off the pass from Tommy and had a great hustle save, a steal, and a rebound and putback. Travis had a block and a rebound. Braxton scored on 2 more 3-pointers, as did Sonny Phillips. Sky Not Afraid also scored for the Pioneers as the clock ran down on a great pass from Anderson Yeadon and Colter Han. The final score was 36-78.
Team Stats vs Fort Benton: Rebounds: 29, with Jayton and Jaesun each having 6, Free throws: 1/6, Steals: 5, with Jayton having 2, Assists: 10, with Anderson having 5,and Turnovers: 25
The next day, they played the Box Elder Bears on a senior night in Box Elder, and they were hard to stop. They pressed the Pioneers and got a significant lead from steals and dunks. Freshman Aidan Morsette had a great game and scored 24 of the Pioneer’s 44 points. Tommy Sant also had a great game with 11 points, including 3-pointers and an AND1! The Pioneers also had great buckets, rebounds, steals, and passes from Jaesun, Braxton, Jayton, Josh, and Sonny. The Pioneers were on the receiving end of a last game of several seniors on the Box Elder team, who is looking to get another state championship this year, and ended up losing by 44 points with a final score of 49-93.
Team Stats vs Box Elder:Rebounds: 18, with Jayton and Jaesun each having 5, Free throws: 2/3, Steals: 4, Assists: 3
