SMITHFIELD – By Jessica Tanner – Feb. 1, 2020
With only one game this week, the Bear River boys’ basketball team had plenty of time to prepare for their rematch against Sky View. They even got a boost the day before when Head Coach Reggie Shaw made a surprise visit. This was the first practice he has been to since undergoing brain surgery last week.
“It was a good surprise, we were not expecting it and it was sure good to see him,” said Coach Ryan Sorensen. “We are glad he is on the mend. We miss him and want him back when he gets healthy. He has to take care of himself.”
Once again the Region 11 schools rallied in support of Coach Shaw. During the Jan. 31, game Sky View fans were dressed in red, each player sported a red ribbon and spectators filled buckets with cash throughout the night to help with medical bills.
Although Bear River had a game plan headed into the match up, the Bears suffered a big defeat at the hand of the Bobcats, 89-57.
“We do not match up well with Sky View but that happens in basketball,” Sorensen said. “We looked at some things on film and at what we thought we could do and the biggest thing we preached all week was patience. We talked about taking it a possession at a time and if we had to take a minute to get a good shot that is what we would do, but we did not do that.”
In the first quarter the Bears fell behind 24-10. Not much changed in the second quarter and a confident Sky View team extended their lead 51-27 at halftime.
With four minutes left in the game, Bear River subbed in several bench players for some varsity experience. The game ended with the Bears on the losing end.
“We had a few fleeting moments in the second half, but we mostly just ran around,” stated Sorensen disappointingly. “The kids want to win, but they cannot try to win their own way. Coaches plan things out—we see things on film and we preached all week to prepare, but they did not run the game plan.”
Ren Fonnesbeck led the Bears in scoring with 14, followed by Logan Litchford with 12, Jace Jacobsen had 10 and Mark Huber contributed nine.
“We cannot dwell on this—it is still a loss whether we lost by one or 40—it does not matter,” Sorensen explained. “We have to move on because we have two big games next week and we have to come back ready to practice and figure things out. We have to play better to win and execute the things we talk about.”
For more pictures of the game, check out Andy Marchant Photography's coverage on www.brvnews.com HOME page or BRHS SPORTS page.
The Bears will hit the road on Wednesday, Feb. 5, to take on Ridgeline before they host Mountain Crest on Friday, Feb. 7. Go and support your Bears, but if you can’t be there Bear River Live has you covered.
You can watch all the action at www.brlivestream.com/live.