Payson Roundup

Andy Towle/Roundup atowle@payson.com

In the second quarter of the Jan. 16 game against St. Johns, Ever Figueroa leaps toward the basket for a smooth layup shot.

Andy Towle/Roundup atowle@payson.com

Chioya Hill works the ball underneath a pair of Lady Redskins and goes in for a layup, during the third quarter of a lopsided game, Tuesday, Jan. 26, at Wilson Dome.

Both the boys and girls basketball teams saw a rough night when the Longhorns faced the St. Johns Redskins. The boys lost a close 43-40 game, while the girls fell with a 48 to 23 score.

In the first game since Dec. 19, the Payson Longhorns had a full roster, with the inclusion of big-man Dakota Marshall and scorer Cody Waterman, said coach Jared Swanson.

“It was good to have our entire team on the court once again, as I know everyone was excited to play as a complete team,” he said.

Marshall played sparingly last week in a loss to Fountain Hills, but Waterman missed last week’s game with a sprained ankle.

In the Jan. 26 game, the Longhorns came out playing well in the first quarter, and took a 13-11 lead at the first break, behind Cody Waterman’s six first-quarter points. The pace of the game slowed down a bit in the second quarter, as each team only scored 8 points, the coach said.

The Longhorns still held a 2-point lead at the half. The third quarter showed the intensity that the St. Johns team played with the entire game. They out-scored the Longhorns 14-10 in the third, and held a 2-point lead (33-31) going into the game’s final quarter. The fourth quarter was back-and-forth, while each team held the lead for short periods of time time. In the end, the Longhorns just couldn’t get across the line, and the Redskins pulled out the 43-40 victory.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t have the intensity that I thought we should have,” Swanson said.

“Give credit to the St. Johns team, as they played a great game. They out-worked us in big situations, and deserved to win.

“Our guys need to know that they need to come and play hard every play of every game, no matter who we have on the court. Hopefully we can start to gel back together a bit more after a couple practices this week,” he said.

Score by quarters:

PAYSON — 13; 8; 10; 9

ST. JOHNS — 11; 8; 14; 10

The leading scorers for Payson were Cody Waterman with 14 points and 7 rebounds; Dakota Marshall, 10 points, 9 rebounds; Cale Novack, 8 points, 6 rebounds; and Ever Figueroa, 6 points, 8 assists.

Other statistics

Free throws: Payson — 55 percent, 6 for 11; St. Johns — 36 percent, 5 for 14

Rebounds: Payson — 32; St. Johns — 26

Turnovers: Payson — 16; St. Johns — 15

The St. Johns loss now gives the Longhorns a team record of 9-14 and 1-7 in the 3A East, Swanson said.

The report on the girls game was on the brief side.

“We were destroyed by St. Johns in a very disappointing effort,” reports coach Kelly Krieg of the Lady Horns Jan. 26 game. The final score was 48 to 23.

“Chioya Hill played well, scoring 14 points to go along with 10 rebounds,” Krieg said.