Basketball Game Preview: Payson Lions vs. El Rancho Dons

The Payson Lions and the El Rancho Dons will compete for holiday cheer at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Payson will be coming into the match with an undefeated record on the line.

While Payson didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-14), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They managed a 70-64 win over Salem Hills on Friday. Given the Lions' advantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked ninth, while the Skyhawks are ranked 64th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Payson to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kade Jenson, who went 6 for 12 on his way to 18 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals. Those 18 points gave Jenson a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Micah Swasey, who went 6 of 11 on his way to 13 points and five rebounds.

Payson was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Salem Hills only racked up ten assists.

Meanwhile, after a string of four wins, El Rancho's good fortune finally ran out on Monday. They fell 57-50 to Temple City.

Payson pushed their record up to 7-0 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 68.7 points per game. As for El Rancho, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-4.