Carbon hosted the winless Union Cougars on Wednesday night in an action-packed game. The Cougars came out hot and played with nothing to lose. They racked up 19 points in the first quarter to lead by six.
The Dinos found a hot streak after a roller coaster of events in the second. The Cougars were still on the attack when they broke through the Dinos press defense and completed an alley-hoop slam by Keaston Young. Just when it looked like Union would build on that momentum, one of their fans was called for a technical foul for comments made toward a referee. Play was stopped momentarily and Carbon’s Vice Principal and Athletic Director, Ted Bianco, were both called over to calm the spectator down.
Brady Gagon made both free throws as a result of the technical and then went on a tear. He scored seven unanswered points to put the Dinos back on top. Gagon stayed in a good groove offensively and led all scorers with 26 points and five three-pointers made. Carbon scored 24 in the second period and went into halftime with a 37-34 lead.
Every time the Dinos built up a lead, the Cougars would crawl back into the game. Young went down in the middle of the fourth quarter, which hurt the Cougars as he was leading Union with 16 points at the time. Jaden Gardner would match Young’s 16 and kept the Cougars within striking distance.
With under a minute left, Gagon hit a couple of clutch foul shots to make it 63-58. Jobe Rust responded with an NBA-three to pull Union within two. Caleb Winfree added another point at the line while the Cougars’ last attempt proved futile. The Dinos survived the mayhem, 64-61.
Kaleb Nelson returned to form and played well for the Dinos. He scored their first seven points of the game and ended with a double-double, including 18 points and 13 rebounds. Noah Bradford also reached double-digits with 12 points.
The Dinos (5-3) will look to go to the break on a winning streak when they take on the Wasps in Juab (2-6) on Friday. That match will be streamed live online at etvnews.com/livesports.
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- Photos by Jeff Barrett
