Kanab Cowboys Rope Bulldogs, 50-37

By LOU MARTIN

The Progress

The Virgin Valley High School Boys Basketball team opened its 2022 season on Tuesday night, Nov. 29. with a loss as they fell to much bigger Kanab (Utah) squad 50-37. The Cowboys controlled the boards for most of the game against a small but scrappy Dawg team.

The Cowboys came out shooting from downtown in the first period nailing 4 three balls to take a 17-9 advantage.

The Bulldogs started two freshman guards, Elian Pinto and Malachi Davis to start the match. Their ball hawking play kept the Dawgs close but could not offset Kanab’s sharpshooters.

The second period was all Bulldogs. Coach Ty Wakefield increased the intensity with a full court press resulting in many defensive steals. The Bulldogs outscored the Cowboys in the period 13-5 to tie the game at 22-22 at the half. Pinto and Davis led the Dawgs run with 5 points each.

The Cowboys came out shooting in the third period hitting the long ball three more times to take a 39-32 lead after three quarters of play. Davis had 6 points to keep the Dawgs in the game.

The Bulldogs could not match the Cowboys height advantage in the final period as Kanab controlled the offensive boards making the final score 50-37 in favor of Kanab.
Davis led all scorers with 16 points followed by Pinto with 10 points.

The Bulldogs were able to hit only one three-ball in the game versus 7 from the Cowboys.
“Our first game showed deficiencies,” said Coach Wakefield. “Moving without the ball on offense and defending off the ball are areas for improvement.”