Basketball Recap: Escalante Comes Up Short

Escalante lost against Panguitch back in January of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. The Escalante Moquis were outmatched by the Panguitch Bobcats and fell 92-46. While losing is never fun, the Moquis can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 129th, while the Bobcats are ranked 48th).

Despite the loss, Escalante still got an impressive performance from Mac Porter, who posted 15 points and four steals. That's the most points Porter has posted since back in February of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Kage Lyman, who put up eight points.

Maddix Johnson went supernova for Panguitch, going 8 of 12 from beyond the arc on his way to 33 points. Jaxon Certonio also deserves some recognition as he grabbed his first steal of the season.

This is the second loss in a row for Escalante and nudges their season record down to 5-9. As for Panguitch, their win was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 14-3.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Escalante has already played their next matchup (against Fredonia), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Panguitch will head out to square off against Kanab at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.