Grant Union’s Fletcher Grove, right, and Dayville/Monument’s Boyden Weaver go up for the opening tip during their teams’ matchup on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, at Dayville High School.

After going down by as many as eight points, the Dayville/Monument boys basketball team rallied and gave the Grant Union JV squad as much as it could handle before losing 32-30 on Thursday, Nov. 7, at Dayville High School.

The Tigers would score first before a 7-2 Prospector run saw Grant Union pull out to a 7-4 lead with 2:30 left in the first quarter. The Tigers would rally to trail 10-9 headed into the second quarter of play.

The second period was an offensive struggle for both teams, which spent more than half the quarter looking to find their offensive footing. The Pros would ultimately break that offensive drought with 3:30 left in the period to increase their one-point lead to three at 12-9.

The Prospectors would ultimately take a 15-13 lead into the intermission.

The third quarter began with the Pros sinking a three-pointer to go ahead 18-13 with just a minute gone by in the period. The Pros would take control in the third, extending their lead to 23-15 midway through the quarter.

The Tigers would make a small run, scoring two quick buckets to cut the Prospector lead to 23-19 in the waning moments of the third quarter. The Pros, however, would get their answer, a timely three-point shot with just over :30 left in the third to take a 26-19 lead, which they would maintain into the final quarter of play.

The Tigers would climb all the way back to tie the score at 28 with 2:30 left in the game. The contest then became a free-throw drill for the Pros as they went 4-6 from the line during the game’s final minutes to take a 32-28 lead with just :20 left in the contest.

The Tigers would get another field goal with :10 left in the game but were unable to find another basket, ultimately falling 32-30 at home.

Fletcher Grove was the high scorer for the Prospectors, finishing with 13 points. Rowdy Wilson added 10 for Grant Union and Zeke Rookstool finished with five points, including four free throws during the final minutes of the game to seal the win for the Pros.

Josh Thomas was the high scorer for the Tigers, finishing the game with 11 points. Boyden Weaver chipped in six points and Adin Braly finished with six for the Tigers.

Grant Union JV head coach Jesse Gosnell was pleased with the win, as the Pros were shorthanded coming into the game.

“We had a couple of guys that had to step up and play point guard for us, and they don’t normally do that,” he said.

Defeating a varsity squad in Dayville/Monument provides a boost for the team, according to Gosnell.

“It gives us tons of confidence,” he said. “As much as they’re hard, these close games give us such great experience moving forward playing other teams when we’re in close games at the end.”

Dayville/Monument coach Mike Davis said his team’s pressing defense created scoring chances and kept the Tigers in the game.

“We’ve been working on the press and we turned up the heat a bit on the full-court press, jumped them a few times and got some pretty good steals out of that,” he said. “We tried to get some early offense out of that pressure.”

Davis said he sees a trend with his team as the young season carries on.

“We’re getting tougher,” he said.

“We came in during our first game and we were not strong with the ball and got in a lot of trouble,” he said. “We turned that around in the second half of that first game and won the second half. That first half of the first game was rough, and I think we’ve been getting better since then.”

The two teams will meet again in a rematch on Thursday, Dec. 14, at Grant Union High School. Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m.