ST. GEORGE – After a preseason of small crowds, blowout games and neutral floors, it’s easy to forget what Region 9 hoops is all about. A big “Thank you,” to Snow Canyon and Pine View Friday night for reminding us.
The Warriors and Panthers went toe to toe in front of a couple thousand rowdy friends and the epic region battle was decided the only way an epic battle should be decided: Chandler Gines hit the game-winner with 38 seconds to play, a spinning runner in the lane, as Snow Canyon escaped with a 59-55 win over Pine View.
“I’m afraid they might all be like this one tonight,” SC coach James Brown said. “This is Region 9 basketball.”
The visiting Panthers had just grabbed their first lead since the second quarter when Dallin Milne hit a deep 3-pointer with 53 seconds to play. The straight-away trey settled home and capped a fourth quarter rally that saw Milne single handedly out-score Snow Canyon 12-10 in the game’s final four minutes.
The Panther senior hit seven straight free throws, including a 3-point play that cut it to 52-50 with 2:17 to go. After a Gines put-back, Milne hit two free throws to make it 54-52 with 1:45 left.
Nate Gottfredson hit missed a one and one freebie, setting up Milne for the go-ahead bucket and he nailed the 3-pointer, putting PV up 55-54. Fifteen seconds later, Gines hit his runner to make it 56-55 for SC.
Milne tried to match with 20 seconds to go, but his driving shot fell short. Gines then hit 3 of 4 free throws the final 20 seconds to seal it.
“Me and Dallin are buddies from 24/7 Hoops this past summer and we really like to go after each other,” Gines said. “Pine View’s a great team and they gave us all we could handle tonight.”
Several times the Warriors threatened to turn the game into a blowout on their home floor. Snow Canyon led 32-26 at the half and pushed it out to the biggest advantage of the night at 35-26 with 6:54 to play in the third quarter.
But Pine View hung in there and, behind the shooting of Jack Bangerter and Chaz Peterson, the Panthers pulled to within 40-36 in the quarter’s closing seconds. After a Snow Canyon miss, Pine View worked it into the corner and Dylan Edwards hit a trey at the third quarter buzzer to make it 40-39, setting up the dramatic fourth quarter.
“We got our crowd behind us and they helped a lot,” Gottfredson said. “It was a great game and a great atmosphere.”
The Warriors, 5-4 overall and now 2-0 in region play, was led by Gines’ 17 and Gottfredson’s 14. Pine View, 8-4 and 1-1, got 18 from Milne and 15 from Bangerter.
Pine View was playing without starting center Kody Wilstead, who was attending an All-American football camp. The Warriors were without Kallan Webster, who sprained his ankle earlier this week. Gabe Jensen saw limited time in his first game back from knee surgery.
Snow Canyon’s next action is Wednesday at Hurricane. Pine View plays at Desert Hills Wednesday.
PV Stats: pvsc1413pv
SC Stats: pvsc1413sc
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