So it wasn’t the win against the Judge Bulldogs that the Miners boys’ basketball team was hoping for, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.

The boys lost 49-39, but managed to stay with Judge until the fourth quarter when they started to fall behind and were forced to foul to slow down the game. In fact, Park City was leading 18-10 after the first quarter and was tied with Judge at the half.

Park City head coach Jim Boyce said that the team learned from its first meeting against the Bulldogs and was able to get a lot more shots close to the basket as well as kicking the ball back outside to some of the strong perimeter shooters. One of those shooters was Jon Schettler, who hit four 3-pointers in the game en route to scoring 15 points.

The dynamic duo of Jon Schettler and his brother, Brian, led the Miners in scoring, combining for a whopping 25 points and a 58-percent shooting night. Not to be outdone by Jon, Brian turned in a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Although Boyce has a strong senior class, he said that the brothers, both underclassmen, are making a huge difference for the Miners.

“They had a really good game,” Boyce said.

The Miners’ only remaining conundrum was trying to contain Judge’s point guard Stallan Saldivar. They managed to hold him to his scoring average of 14 points and get him in a bit of foul trouble, but Boyce said that his combination of shooting, passing and defense is nearly unstoppable.

“He can do so many things,” Boyce said.

Trying to play past Saldivar should help the Miners this week with a game scheduled against Waterford and six-foot 10-inch Reid Monson after press time on Tuesday, and home games against Union and Uintah after that. Boyce said he finally feels like his players have overcome the mental block and pressure that come with playing against some of Region 10’s top players.

“I think we’re getting over that,” he said. “Against Judge, we kept fighting to the end. Even though we were down we kept fighting.

The Miners will need to get at least three, if not four, region wins to secure a spot in the playoffs. Boyce said he feels the players are focused enough to pull off the daunting task.

“We can never give up,” he said. “We can get a lot of positivity if we keep playing hard and smart.”

Park City will host Union at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Park City High School gym.