The Payson Lions will look to defend their home court on Friday against the Salem Hills Skyhawks at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Payson had to travel to play their first game of the season, but the final result was worth the trip. They secured a 77-73 W over Hurricane last Tuesday.
Payson got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Quinn Buys out in front who scored 19 points along with 5 rebounds. Legend Reynoso was another key contributor, dropping a double-double on 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Salem Hills lost to Lehi on the road by a decisive 86-68 margin on Tuesday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did last Tuesday (65), Salem Hills still had to take the loss.
Salem Hills' loss came about despite a quality game from Chase Degraffenried, who scored 25 points along with 6 rebounds. Degraffenried scored a full 36.8% of Salem Hills' points, the second time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Hopkins, who scored 10 points.
Payson's victory bumped their record up to 1-0. As for Salem Hills, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 0-2.
Payson lost to Salem Hills at home by a decisive 68-51 margin when the teams last played back in November of 2022. Thankfully for Payson, Christian Snarr (who scored 16 points along with 9 rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
