RICHFIELD – All six Region 9 teams were in action Friday night in non-league prep basketball, with the region going 4-2 on the day.
Dixie 63, Grantsville 49
A couple of 6-0 runs and some hot shooting helped the Flyers blow out the Cowboys in the mid-day game.
Tyler Bennett scored 32 points and Nate Crockett buried four 3-pointers for Dixie, which had a quick turnaround after a Thursday night game at Richfield High.
“It was really nice to get back out on the court just 12 hours or so after that loss last night,” Dixie coach Ryan Cuff said. “The sun did come up today and everything’s going to be all right.”
The Flyers and Cowboys were close throughout the first half, though a Dixie run at the end of the first quarter did give DHS a 20-14 lead after one. Grantsville matched Dixie bucket for bucket in the second quarter to stay within 36-30 at the half.
It was 48-41 after three, but Bennett got hot to start the fourth quarter, going on a personal 6-0 run to push the lead to double-digits and the Cowboys never seriously challenged after that.
“It was fun to get right back out on the court and forget about last night,” Bennett said. “Today was a fun game. Everybody was working the ball around and sharing. We’ve got a lot of people on the team that can score this year.”
That includes Crockett, who hit all four of his treys in the first half.
“Last night was definitely a wake-up call,” Crockett said. “It was the best thing that could have happened to us early in the season. We needed to be slapped in the face with a loss in order to get better.”
Bennett’s 32 points came on an efficient 13 of 22 shooting and came with seven rebounds and four steals. Crockett’s 14 points included 4 for 8 from downtown. Malachi Otis added 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists.
“I knew the guys would respond well,” Cuff said. “For us to have success this year, other guys have to step up besides Tyler Bennett.”
Dixie, 1-1, will face Logan Saturday in a 10:30 a.m. game from the Sevier Valley Center.
Hurricane 52, Tooele 47
In a revenge win for the Tigers from their football playoff loss a few weeks ago, Hurricane scrapped its way to the win.
The Buffaloes had a distinct size advantage with 6-foot-8 center Connor Searle and 6-6 forward Ace Hymas, but the Tigers grabbed the lead with a strong third quarter. Tooele opened the second half with a 6-2 run to take a 28-24 lead. But with point guard Kirt McDaniel challenging the tall Searle in the lane, the Tigers ripped open an 8-0 lead to seize the lead.
The Buffs rallied early in the fourth to take a one-point lead, but McDaniel and his mates closed the game strong, pushing the lead out to seven points. Tooele was within three with a minute to go, but late free throws and a key offensive rebound by Reagan Hinton sealed the Hurricane win.
McDaniel had a team-high 14 points, while Josh Parker and Jackson Last had eight points each. Hymas had 20 points for THS and Searle finished with a stat-stuffing 14 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 assists.
Hurricane may have won by much more, but shot a miserable 8 of 19 from the free throw line, including 0 for 5 from Hinton.
Hurricane, 1-1, plays South Sevier Saturday at 6 p.m. at the SVC.
Desert Hills 52, Richfield 44
The Thunder closed the game on a 12-0 run to beat the hometown favorite Wildcats.
Porter Robinson hit a bucket inside to put Richfield ahead 44-40 with 4:10 left in the game. No one knew at the time, but the Wildcats would not score again.
Logan Hokanson scored a layup to make it 44-42 at the four-minute mark. After a Richfield turnover, Hokanson then nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Thunder ahead 45-44 with 3:44 left.
Both teams missed front end of one-and-one free throws over the next two minutes before DH pushed the lead to 47-44 on two freebies by Marcus McKone with 1:07 to play.
Richfield tried to go inside, but missed two contested post shots and Hokanson hit three free throws to make it 48-44 with 35 seconds left.
Another Richfield turnover led to two more free throws by Hokanson to make it 50-44 with 22 seconds to play and McKone hit a layup with one second left ot close out the 12-0 game-clinching run.
McKone led the team with 17 points, with Hokanson right behind him with 16. DH forced 16 turnovers and allowed just 36 percent shooting from the Wildcats. Easton Hunt was the top scorer for RHS with 16 points.
The Thunder, 2-0, will face Morgan at noon Saturday on the second day of the 3A Preview at the Sevier Valley Center.
Logan 70, Pine View 50
The SVC arena was buzzing after the hot-shooting game by the Grizzlies, who made 12 of 19 3-pointers in the blowout win over the Panthers.
“Man, if they shoot like that every game, they won’t lose much,” said PV coach Darrell Larsen. “They were hot.”
All-totaled, Logan made 27 of 45 shots in the game for a whopping 60 percent from the floor. The ringleader was Rylan Jones, who made 7 of 8 shots (including 4 of 5 from deep) for 18 points. The kicker: he’s only a freshman.
Logan’s Jared Bagley, who had 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting, also handed out seven assists. He’s a sophomore.
Pine View hung relatively close in the first half behind the strength of post Cody Ruesch, who finished the night with 16 points and 5 rebounds. But with the score 40-25 at the half, Logan left no doubt which team would emerge victorious by going on 13-3 run to start the second half.
Pine View made just 18 of 47 shots for 38 percent, and just 4 of 18 3-pointers, 22 percent.
Logan had 22 assists on its 27 made baskets.
The Panthers, 2-1, play early Saturday with a 9 a.m. date with Grantsville. Logan, 2-0, will face Dixie immediately following.
Cedar 59, Morgan 32
The Redmen destroyed the Trojans, with Keenan Neilson holding the cannon.
The Cedar junior guard had 16 points and played a solid floor game at the point, sharing with seven teammates in the scoring.
This one was never a contest as Cedar led 16-4 after one quarter and 31-17 at halftime. The Trojans never got closer than 14 the rest of the game.
It was a good bounce back game as Cedar was coming off a 19-point loss to Salem Hills in which coach Craig Cardon said his team looked “jittery” and “nervous.”
It was a balanced effort as well as six Redmen scored at least six points, with Abraham Brower chipping in nine, Ethan Fletcher and Mason Fakahua adding eight each, Ben Brinkerhoff scoring seven and Braden Garrett getting six.
The Redmen, 1-1, will battle Manti at 7:30 p.m. in Richfield Saturday night.
Juan Diego 62, Snow Canyon 44
In Draper, the rough start to the season continued for the Warriors, who were right in the game until the fourth quarter.
Trailing just 39-36 heading into the final period, Snow Canyon ran out of gas, getting outscored 23-8 in the final eight minutes.
Big guy Justin Loveless had 13 points and Brock Staheli scored 12 for SC, which fell to 0-3 with three straight road games. The Warriors play two more on the road before some games in St. George for the Coach Walk Classic.
SC doesn’t play a true home game until mid-January in what coach James Brown called a “scheduling quirk.” The Warriors do play five home games in January.
Avery Ames and JD Ahlstrom scored 14 each to lead the Soaring Eagle.
Snow Canyon is at Enterprise Wednesday night.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @oldschoolag
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.