GUNNISON—The Bulldogs are left looking for solutions as they ended last week on the wrong side of a streak.
The Gunnison Valley boys’ basketball team lost their third and fourth straight games as they fell to 1A Piute, 60-47, last Wednesday and then they were blown out late on Friday in a 64-46 loss to Kanab at home. The losses dropped Gunnison to 2-4 on the season after their hot start, with all four of their losses coming by double digits.
Against Piute, the Bulldogs played nearly all of the game from behind, gaining a one-point lead at two different points in the game only to lose the lead on the next play. The Thunderbirds kept the Bulldogs at arm’s reach up until the last two minutes of the first half, before going on a 12-2 run to end the half with a 32-20 lead and cruise to the finish.
Junior Jon Willden led the Bulldogs with 15 points. Sophomore Jet Hill scored double digits for the first time this season as he dropped 10 points. The Bulldogs combined to make six 3-pointers.
The game against Kanab looked like a classic in the making in the first half, especially when Willden scored a long 3-pointer on the first possession of the game.
After Kanab went up 16-15 at the end of the first quarter, the Bulldogs took control in the second quarter with an 11-2 scoring run fueled by hot outside shooting from Willden and senior Myles Bartholomew. Kanab managed to whittle the lead down to 30-28 before both teams headed to the locker room.
After halftime, Kanab pushed the ball into the low post and subsequently decimated the Gunnison defense to the tune of 21 points in a quarter, turning their two-point deficit into a 10-point lead. That lead grew only larger in the fourth as Kanab salted the game away.
Bartholomew had a tremendous game despite the loss as he nailed five 3-pointers to lead the Bulldogs with 16 points. Willden nailed another three 3’s, eight total for the team, as he put in 14 points, while senior Jack Hansen chipped in 10 points.
The Bulldogs will remain at home this week as they face Merit Academy on Wednesday, followed by a Friday matchup against Altamont before a long break.
