In each of its previous three games, the Park City High School boys’ basketball team hadn’t scored more than 19 points in the first half.
On Friday night at home against Union, that changed.
On the wrong side of a two-game skid, the Miners got back to their winning ways in a big way, outrunning the visiting Cougars 63-44. Park City scored 19 points in the first quarter alone on its way to the double-digit victory.
Seniors Britton Buford, Jono Schettler and Jordan Ruda all had exemplary games for the Miners, each scoring 18 points. Fellow seniors Brae Dilley (five points) and Talon Hester (four points) rounded out the scoring. Now at 7-6 overall, Park City is 1-1 two games into its young Region 10 schedule.
“They came out with the right mentality, came out aggressive and attacked,” said head coach Caleb Fine. “We got early lay ups, post touches it was a mentality thing.
“They’re seniors. They know what to do and they know what they needed to do. They attacked. Ultimately, we controlled the entire game.”
The Miners scored 25 field goals in the rout 12 more than the visiting Cougars and dominated defensively, Fine said. Union wasn’t able to grab an offensive rebound until midway through the third quarter, Fine added. After back-to-back home losses to Wasatch on Jan. 6 and 4A East on Jan. 13, Park City got back to doing what it does best shutting opponents down.
“We talked about how we had regressed a little bit last week,” Fine said. “It was fun to see the boys come out and rebound and defend.”
After struggling against Wasatch and East, Schettler broke out of his mini-funk something Fine enjoyed seeing.
“Jono attacked the basket again and he shot the ball with a little bit more confidence,” he said.
Fine said the continuing emergence of Ruda as a viable third scoring option was a welcome sight in a must-win game.
“Overall, when you have three guys scoring 18 points, that’s even better than Britton and Jono combining for 40,” he said. “Fifty-four points from three guys is a lot of points.”
The win against Union shouldn’t be underrated, Fine said. A potential 0-2 start in Region 10 play could have spelled disaster for the Miners, who have been mentioned as one of the more talented teams in 3A basketball.
“We needed this one,” he said. “When you have aspirations to win region, you want to control your own destiny.”
Now, the Miners, Fine said, must become “road warriors” as five of their last eight will be away from the friendly confines of Park City High School. The Miners faced Juan Diego Tuesday evening in Draper after this issue went to press, and will host Uintah Friday.
“They’ve got some big bodies,” Fine said of Uintah (3-9). “They’re a big, aggressive team.”
“They are a good basketball team, and they play pretty doggarn hard. They’ll love the chance to jump on a Park City team at home, and I’m sure they’re looking forward to shaking things up.”