TWIR9: These are the days when championships are won

COMMENTARY — Woof! The dog days of summer have a counterpart in the basketball season. It’s the cold, intense cat days of winter, when teams dive headlong into a string of region games with little or no respite until the state playoffs begin in late February.

We’re in the midst of those days right now and the boys and girls hoops teams in Region 9 are looking for those opportunities to make ground. A road win here, a rivalry win there — that’s what it takes to win a region title and position a team for a deep playoff run.

For the boys, the team doing the heavy lifting right now is Desert Hills. The Thunder got a road win at Dixie and then beat Pine View at home, two huge rivalry victories that have put D-Hills in prime position to go undefeated through the first half. The Thunder are 3-0 and play host to Snow Canyon Wednesday with a visit to Canyon View Friday. DH also plays Hurricane next week to finish out the first round of games in region.

Thunder F Quincy Mathews (22) drives to the hoop against Kody Wilstead of the Panthers, Desert Hills vs. Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 9, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Thunder F Quincy Mathews (22) drives to the hoop against Kody Wilstead of the Panthers, Desert Hills vs. Pine View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Jan. 9, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Though not easy, the Thunder will be favored in all three games. If they can get through those three unscathed, DH will be sitting in the catbird seat (meow) at the halfway point.  Of course, this is Region 9 and just when we think we have things figured out, something crazy happens. Oh, and Quincy Mathews, the media’s preseason pick as league MVP, has been spectacular. He’s averaging nearly 20 points a game and hit the buzzer-beating game winner at Dixie. His consistency is what most impresses. He’s been in double-figures in every game except one this season and is also averaging 8.3 rebounds a game.

Dixie and Cedar are both 2-1 in region, though Dixie has played both Desert Hills and Pine View, while Cedar’s one loss is to D-Hills. The Flyers stubbed their toes with a home loss to Desert Hills, but then got a huge road win at Pine View to make up for that. Dixie and Cedar meet up Wednesday night in Cedar City with the winner emerging alone in second place. Dixie also has a road game at Snow Canyon this week, so the Flyers have their work cut out for them if they are to stay close behind Desert Hills.

Tyler Bennett (5) drives the lane against Logan Forsyth, Desert Hills vs.Dixie, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Tyler Bennett (5) drives the lane against Logan Forsyth, Desert Hills vs.Dixie, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 17, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Jake Hawes and RJ Wilgar have been excellent for Dixie, but the most pleasant surprise for Flyers fans has been the intense efforts of Tyler Bennett. The junior guard is averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds a game and was a huge reason Dixie was able to beat Pine View in The Pit.

Cedar’s big star is Kyle Wood. He had 16 points and 13 rebounds in a win against Snow Canyon last week. But Wood is starting to get some big-time help from sophomore Keenen Nielson, who is averaging 10.5 points a game and had 24 vs. the Warriors. And yes, that is the younger brother of Kyler and Kordan Nielson, two former stars for the Redmen.

When Pine View pulled away from Snow Canyon in a win at SC back in December, no one would have believed the two teams would have identical region records in mid-January. But it’s true as both sit at 2-2. The Panthers had a rough week with a home loss to Dixie and a road L at Desert Hills. But the schedule lets up a little for the Panthers with a road game at Canyon View Wednesday night, followed by a region bye. PV closes the first half with a game at Cedar next Wednesday.

The Warriors, meanwhile, got a good road win at Canyon View and also beat Hurricane, but suffered a disappointing loss at home to Cedar. Snow Canyon also has two toughies left before they reach halfway, with a road game Wednesday night at Desert Hills and a home battle vs, Dixie on Friday. Jake Frei and Kade Potter are still the leaders for SC, but it’s nice to see the emergence of junior post Justin Loveless. He had a 21-point game earlier this season and 7.0 per game in region play.

Canyon View’s lone region win is against Hurricane, while the Tigers are 0-4 in league play. It’s going to be tough for either of these teams to make the playoffs unless they get hot very soon. Both teams have already lost two home games.

This week’s boys schedule:

1/14 – Wednesday
Dixie at Cedar, 7 p.m.
Pine View at Canyon View, 7 p.m.
Snow Canyon at Desert Hills, 7 p.m. (Triplecast)

1/16 – Friday
Cedar at Hurricane, 7 p.m. (Triplecast)
Desert Hills at Canyon View, 7 p.m.
Dixie at Snow Canyon, 7 p.m. (890-KDXU)

Boys Standings:

Region 9
W
L
PS
PA
pct.
W
L
PS
PA
pct.
Desert Hills 3 0 158 140 1.000 10 3 744 645 .769
Dixie 2 1 158 148 .667 10 3 827 717 .769
Cedar 2 1 171 153 .667 7 4 587 562 .636
Snow Canyon 2 2 251 254 .500 6 6 685 744 .500
Pine View 2 2 210 191 .500 11 2 744 619 .846
Canyon View 1 2 158 170 .333 7 5 689 650 .583
Hurricane 0 4 187 237 .000 3 10 579 662 .231

Girls basketball

For the girls, I don’t think anyone is surprised that Cedar is playing well. The Lady Reds went to the state semifinals with essentially the same line-up that they have on the floor this season. Cedar has some weaknesses (sometimes their offense dries up a bit, as it did in non-region losses to Springville and North Sanpete), but the Reds are in good shape in the standings. They will be tested by a tough Dixie team tonight at the Hangar and also have a road game at Pine View next week.

Speaking of Pine View, the Lady Panthers are one of three teams with one region loss. PV lost a close one to Dixie, whose only loss is to Desert Hills. Canyon View also has just one loss, falling to Cedar. Oh, and don’t count out Desert Hills, whose two losses are on the road.

This week should clear up the logjam a bit — here in the cat days of January.

This week’s girls schedule:

1/13 – Tuesday
Canyon View at Pine View, 7 p.m.
Cedar at Dixie, 7 p.m.
Desert Hills at Snow Canyon, 7 p.m.

1/15 – Thursday
Canyon View at Desert Hills, 7 p.m.
Hurricane at Cedar, 7 p.m.
Snow Canyon at Dixie, 7 p.m.

Girls Standings:

Region 9
W
L
PS
PA
pct.
W
L
PS
PA
pct.
Cedar 3 0 141 109 1.000 9 3 536 430 .750
Pine View 3 1 220 202 .750 7 3 496 519 .700
Dixie 2 1 179 166 .667 9 3 592 543 .750
Canyon View 2 1 117 111 .667 4 9 521 586 .308
Desert Hills 1 2 146 143 .333 7 5 708 628 .583
Snow Canyon 1 3 197 231 .250 4 10 568 729 .286
Hurricane 0 4 195 233 .000 2 11 544 655 .154

“This Week in Region 9″ is a weekly column written by Andy Griffin exploring the happenings in Region 9 at all sports venues. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of St. George News.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.