The Green River Pirates participated in the Panther Winter Classic in Price over the weekend, winning two and losing two during the busy few days.
First, the Pirates played a tough Wayne Badgers (7-4) team. The Badgers showed their claws from beginning to end, not allowing Green River to outscore them in any quarter as the Pirates fell 65-39.
Luis Hernandez did well, scoring eight points in the game, while teammate Raul Mendoza had eight of his own.
Next up, Green River played the Escalante Moquis (5-6). The game was competitive as the Pirates fought hard to figure out a win, but in the end found another loss, 71-59.
However, the Pirates were resilient, focusing on the two games ahead. They battled the UMACW Marauders (1-6) and scored a massive 27 points in the first quarter, adding on 15 more in the second.They would eventually seal the win, 65-47.
Luis Hernandez was the scoring leader in this game with 24 big points. Raul Mendoza had 12 points, along with 10 from Jason Hernandez.
The last game of the tournament was against the Telos team (0-9). Green River had another huge first quarter, scoring 32 out of the gate. The game was out of reach for Telos as soon as it started as Green River won 78-41.
Some new faces received playing time with Jarrett Guerrera coming out to play, scoring 18 points in the game. Rolando Anguiano wanted in on the scoring as well with 17 of his own. Luis and Jason Hernandez had a solid 11 points each.
The Pirates will get a long holiday break before hitting the court again on Jan. 4 against the Monticello Buckaroos (2-8) for their first region game of the year.