Bulldogs tenacious in two wins
By Matt Harris
Staff writer
12-12-2019
GARLAND—Gunnison Valley boys’ basketball showed an impressive amount of tenacity in their showing at the Bear River Winter Classic with two close wins and a close loss.
The Bulldogs preceded the Classic with two dominant wins over Tintic, 83-34, and Pinnacle Academy, 80-49, before dropping the first game of the Classic to 4A Ogden, 63-59. They then won their next two games against North Sanpete, 54-52, and 4A Ben Lomond, 51-49.
Coach Ben Hill was unavailable to comment.
Gunnison moved to 5-2 on the year. The win against Ben Lomond was their first win against an upper classification team since their win against Delta in 2016.
The Bulldogs had no trouble at all with their 1A opponents before the Classic. Junior Harley Hill led Gunnison with 21 points against Tintic while junior Creed Mogle scored 13 and senior Braxon Sylvester scored 10.
Against Pinnacle, Mogle exploded for 31 points in the rout, sinking four 3-pointers. Sylvester scored 14 points, and sophomore Brandon Tucker scored 11.
When the Bulldogs took on Ogden, it was the first time Gunnison had faced a 4A opponent in this decade. Ogden predictably got a leg up on the Bulldogs quickly, sporting a 14-8 first quarter lead.
The Bulldogs were down 31-24 at halftime and started to fight back in the third. Outscoring the Tigers by three points in the third, the Bulldogs couldn’t overcome the deficit.
Sylvester had an impressive night with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Mogle had 14 points and Hill had 10 points.
When Gunnison moved on to North Sanpete, they struggled out of the gate again and were not only down 16-12 after the first quarter, but they face a 32-20 hole at the half.
Gunnison got stubborn, and they quickly covered ground in the second half with a 16-5 third quarter to make it a 1-point game. They then took the lead in the fourth and held on to topple the Hawks.
Gunnison’s starting five scored all of the points for the Bulldogs that night. Hill led with 19 points, while Mogle and Silvester contributed 15 and 13 points, respectively.
The Bulldogs followed the upset with a stunning victory over Ben Lomond. The Bulldogs took a 4-point lead into halftime to see it washed away by the end of the third quarter, but just edged out the Scots in the fourth for a dramatic victory. Player stats were not reported for the game.
The Bulldogs returned home to host Providence Hall last night and will be on the road against Parowan tomorrow night.
