COMMENTARY — It’s a pretty light week in Region 9 — light, but important for a lot of teams.
We crowned state champs in boys golf (Park City) and girls tennis (also Park City), with region cross country and girls soccer taking on epic proportions this week.
GIRLS SOCCER
The state playoffs begin Wednesday for the girls soccer teams that qualified. The last three champions have come from Region 9 (Cedar last year, Dixie in 2013 and Snow Canyon in 2012), so don’t be surprised to see the southern Utah teams do really well again.
It usually comes down to a Region 9 team and either Park City or Juan Diego. That’s what it looks like again this year, with the 1-2-3 punch of Desert Hills, Cedar and Snow Canyon looking like they could each make a deep run into the 3A bracket.
The Lady Thunder won the region and rested their starters in the last game of the year, so they should be ready to go when Richfield visits Wednesday night. The game is slated to start at 7:30 p.m., but may be a little late with Desert Hills and Logan playing football on the same field at DHHS beginning at 5 p.m.
Cedar, looking to defend its state championship, hosts Juab Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Lady Reds have a potential second-round matchup at Juan Diego.
Snow Canyon finished in third place, but is poised to make a playoff run. The Warriors, 7-5-4 on the year, travel to North Sanpete to play the Hawks at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
An intriguing contest will be Pine View at Canyon View. The Falcons won region 12 with an 8-0 record, but were just 1-6-1 in non-region games, including a 0-4-1 record against former Region 9 rivals.
Wednesday’s winners play again on Saturday, with those second round games taking place at the higher-seeded team’s home field.
The state semifinals are Oct. 23 (that’s a Friday) at Jordan High School with the championship being the very next day at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy. The title game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
CROSS COUNTRY
Distance runners from around the region are in Cedar City today for the Region 9 cross country meet.
Desert Hills, which is nationally-ranked and the defending region and state champion, is a heavy favorite to win the boys title. For the girls, Pine View comes in as the defending region champs. The Lady Panthers finished second at state a year ago.
GIRLS TENNIS
Desert Hills’ Madz Eames was the only Region 9 player to make the state finals this week at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.
The state tourney was dominated by Park City and Grantsville, with the Miners and first singles champ Livi Rockwood taking the title.
Rockwood, just a freshman, had a real battle in the finals. Eames took the first set 6-4, but the young Miner rallied to take the next two sets, 6-1, 6-0 to capture that state title. Rockwood had beaten P{jne View’s Hattie Erekson in the semifinals.
BOYS GOLF
Snow Canyon’s Triston Gardner and Pine View’s Noah Schone played well at state. Gardner took second and Schone was third, but neither had much of a chance against Park City’s Mitchell Schow, who shot a 13-under 131 for the two-day state event.
Schow and the rest of Miners captured the eighth straight state title for Park City.
FOOTBALL
With last weekend’s results, there is definitely some stratification in the region standings now. Dixie and Desert Hills are on top with 3-1 records, with Hurricane and Cedar at 2-2 and likely to get home playoff games in the first round. Pine View and Snow Canyon, at 1-3, will probably have to settle for road playoff games in the first round, although the 3AA South has had good luck in those first round games the past few years.
Region competition is on hold this week, with fall break giving the schools Thursday and Friday. Desert Hills and Pine View will play Wednesday night, with the Thunder hosting Logan and the Panthers traveling to Murray to take on the 4A Spartans. Don’t expect to see starting quarterbacks for any of those four teams, with the short week and the non-league nature of the games.
Cedar, Dixie, Hurricane and Snow Canyon all are taking byes for the short week and are preparing for the final region game of the year (Oct. 23).
VOLLEYBALL
We’ll call it the region championship — because that’s likely what it will be — when Snow Canyon and Desert Hills tip off tonight at DHHS.
The Warriors are undefeated and one game ahead of the Thunder with three game remaining. SC beat D-Hills earlier this season (in straight sets back on Sept. 29), so if the Thunder can win it tonight at home, the two teams will be tied. If the Warriors win, they all but clinch the region championship and No. 1 seed from the south.
Here’s the schedule of all the prep sports this week:
TODAY
CROSS COUNTRY
Region Championships at Bicentennial Park, 4:30 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Cedar at Pine View, 7 p.m.
Hurricane at Dixie, 7 p.m.
Snow Canyon at Desert Hills, 7 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
GIRLS SOCCER
State soccer first round at home sites
Juab at Cedar, 4 p.m.
Snow Canyon at North Sanpete, 4 p.m.
Pine View at Canyon View, 4 p.m.
Richfield at Desert Hills, 7:30 p.m.
FOOTBALL
Logan at Desert Hills, 5 p.m.
Pine View at Murray, 7 p.m.
THURSDAY
VOLLEYBALL
Canyon View at Cedar, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Girls soccer quarterfinals at home sites, 1 p.m.
This Week In Region 9 is a sports column written by Andy Griffin. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of St. George News.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @oldschoolag
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