Thunder open season with sharp shooting in win over Canyon View

Written by Andy Griffin
December 1, 2015
Desert Hills vs. Canyon View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 1st, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Region 9 is known for tough defense and grind-it-out offense. Desert Hills is hoping to buck that trend, at least on offense.

The Thunder opened the 2015-16 season with a 71-61 win over Canyon View, a victory that saw DH shoot 54 percent from the field and make half of its 3-pointers.

desert-hills-logocanyon-view-logo“I was pretty pleased with the 71 points,” Thunder head coach Wade Turley said. “We definitely have some guys that can shoot the ball this year. We got some in transition, scored off of turnovers and we did a really nice job with the half-court sets.”

Balance was the key for the Thunder, with four players in double-figure scoring.

“We went nine deep until the end, when I emptied the bench,” Turley said. “Everyone contributed, one through nine. It was nice to see.”

Desert Hills' Marcus Mckone (12), Desert Hills vs. Canyon View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 1st, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Desert Hills’ Marcus Mckone (12), Desert Hills vs. Canyon View, Boys Basketball, St. George, Utah, Dec. 1st, 2015, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Marcus McKone, the Thunder’s sharp-shooting guard who was just named to the preseason all-region team, had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. He was 7 of 8 from the free throw line.

Ty Simister led all scorers with 14 points and Tanner Turley (the coach’s son) added 12 points and 6 assists. Also in double-figures was Cameron Clayton, who was 3 for 3 beyond the 3-point arc and had 11 points. Logan Hokanson chipped in nine points for D-Hills.

The big run for the Thunder came in the second quarter, where DH extended a 16-11 to 40-30. Add the 21-14 advantage in the third period and the game was a runaway at 61-44 after three.

“We had some first-game jitters,” Turley said. “Once we got going, things went well. We were able to throw several different defenses at Canyon View. But give them credit, they kept battling back. Coach (Rob) Potter’s got a good team.”

Desert Hills also out-rebounded the Falcons, 32-17.

Cord Johnson and Jacob Carrington led Canyon View with 11 points each. Lorenzo Camba and Xavier Stoker contributed nine points each.

D-Hills, 1-0, will compete in the 3A Preview this weekend in Richfield. The Thunder play hometown Richfield Friday night, 8:30 p.m., then turnaround for a noon tipoff Saturday against Morgan.

Canyon View, which defeated Snow Canyon and Hurricane last week, is 2-1 and will play in the Legacy (Nev.) tournament this weekend.

Stats: Box Score DHHS (CVHS)-12115

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

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

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m. Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.

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