BEAR RIVER HIGH - By Tate Atkin, Headliner Sports Editor, December 5, 2022
The Bear River High boys' basketball team, led by head coach Reggie Shaw who is in his 4th season as head coach of his Alma Mater, is coming into the 2022-23 season with a young team that has many talented players, including five players who saw varsity playing time last year.
Among those players with varsity experience is the lone senior on this year's squad, Denver Reese. The Bears also return their leader in points, rebounds and blocks from last season in junior Gherig Marble. Juniors Kyver Jensen and Heath Brown also saw playing time last year and will look to improve upon their successes from last year. Juniors Owen Olsen, Bridger Barfuss, Mason Sorensen, Brody Miller, Brayden Ritter and Jace Roberts are names to watch as they will also have opportunities to contribute and find their role on the team along with sophomore Kash Avery.
Kicking off the season, Bear River hosted Kearns High on November 22, the first game of the season for both teams. Last season the two teams played in Bear River's first game of the season as well, where the Bears lost, 78-61. It was a slow start against Kerns this year for the Bears as they had troubles scoring and struggled with turnovers. Despite their offensive difficulties, Bear River stayed in the game with tough defense. After trailing 11-8 after the first quarter, the Bears led 20-19 at halftime.
The second half was a closely contested game that went back and forth as both teams had a hard time finishing on offense and taking advantage of scoring opportunities. As expected with the first game of the season, it was a sloppy game for both teams who turned the ball over and missed easy looks on offense. In the end it was the Bears who outlasted the Cougars from Kearns High as they pulled away late securing the victory behind a great defensive effort that held the Cougars scoreless in the final three minutes of the game. The Bears won their first game of the season by a score of 45-39.
Marble led the team with 13 points on the scoreboard and had nine rebounds to finish the game.
Rewatch the game courtesy of Bear River Live on the links below.
Following up that win, the Bears hosted 3A's Morgan High on November 30, for a close win 60-57 over the Trojans. Barfuss led the Bears on the scoreboard putting up 18 points and four 3-pointers to help secure the win. Jensen scored 16 points and Marble had 11 points for the night. Olsen dominated with nine rebounds total for the Bears.
Catch the Bears' win over Morgan High, courtesy of Bear River Live, on the links below.
The Bears hosted their annual Winter Classic tournament December 1-2, where they defeated North Sanpete High and Union High. The Bears outlasted North Sanpete with a score of 51-45. The Bears beat Union High the next day, December 2, 68-57.
Rewatch both games courtesy of Bear River Live on the link below.
Photos by John Fronk
