Alley-oop slam lifts Dixie in OT as tournament season begins

High school basketball, the Central Utah Preview at the Sevier Valley Center, Richfield, UT, Dec. 1, 2017 | Photo by Shelly Griffin, St. George News

RICHFIELD – All seven Region 9 boys basketball teams were in action Friday, and will be again on Saturday as preseason tournaments started throughout the area.

Here in Richfield, Dixie got a thrilling overtime win on an alley-oop dunk by Derek Cox (with the pass from Brody Henderson) to beat the Stansbury Stallions. Pine View also got a close win, defeating hometown favorite Richfield by six points. Desert Hills ruled on the defensive end to blast Uintah, but Hurricane and Cedar were not as fortunate in their contests. Here’s a look at the action, with a photo gallery by Shelly Griffin.

Dixie 45, Stansbury 43 (F/OT)

With the score tied at 43-43, Dixie took possession with 1:30 left and held the ball. The Stallions finally came out of their zone defense with under 20 seconds to go, playing right into Dixie’s hands. Henderson then penetrated into the lane, drawing the defense close. The Flyer point guard lofted a pass high and to the left of the basket, which Cox caught with both hands and flushed the ball through the hoop.

The Stallions got off about a 27-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it was wide right.

High school basketball, the Central Utah Preview at the Sevier Valley Center, Richfield, UT, Dec. 1, 2017 | Photo by Shelly Griffin, St. George News

Dixie struggled offensively in the game, hitting just 15 of 41 shots from the floor (37 percent), with star Tanner Cuff making just 4 of 16 shots. But Cuff made a huge 3-pointer in the final two minutes of regulation and finished with a team-high 14 points.

Plus, Dixie was tough on defense as well, allowing just two points in overtime and rallying from five down in the third quarter to gain a six-point lead early in the fourth.

Stansbury stayed in it behind the sharp shooting of Drake Schlappi. The senior shooting guard had 19 points, 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter.

Neither team scored in the first two minutes of the overtime, with Cox breaking the 41-41 tie with a pair of high-arching free throws. Josh Jenkins tied it up just seconds later on a leaner in the lane to make it 43-43 with 90 seconds to play.

Following a timeout, Dixie then took the air out of the ball until the final ultimate play. Peyton Wilgar had 12 points for the Flyers, including four straight made free throws in the fourth quarter, and Cox and Carson Bottema added eight points each.

The Flyers play at the Sevier Valley Center once again on Saturday, taking on Emery at noon.

Pine View 49, Richfield 43

Trailing 25-21 early in the third quarter, Pine View went on an 8-0 run and closed the third by scoring 15 of 19 points to take a 36-29 lead into the fourth. The Wildcats closed to within one in the final minute of the game, but Tayler Tobler’s free throws sealed the win.

“I didn’t shoot free throws as well as I wanted to tonight, but our rebounding helped a lot,” Tobler said. “Richfield’s a great team, especially shooting the ball. That was our main game plan was to run them off the 3-point line.”

High school basketball, the Central Utah Preview at the Sevier Valley Center, Richfield, UT, Dec. 1, 2017 | Photo by Shelly Griffin, St. George News

The PV defense did its job, allowing just one made trey all night against the streaky Wildcats. Several close, but off 3-pointers would have made things interesting had they gone in late in the game. But PV forced Richfield into contested deep balls or the prospect of driving through the lane.

“We wanted to be aware of their shooters and not give easy looks,” PV coach Ryan Eves said. “I was happy with our defense. Our offense wasn’t great. We didn’t move the ball that well. But our defense was very good.”

The Panthers also rebounded the ball well, led by Jack O’donnell, Dallin Brown and Connor Brooksby.

“Rebounding really is about desire,” Brooksby said. “There’s technique and positioning, but sometimes it comes down to wanting the ball more than the other guy.”

Pine View led 42-36 with under two minutes to play, but Morgan Albrecht led Richfield’s rally to make it closer. He converted on a three-point play, then hit two free throws to cut it to 42-41 with 1:15 left. Tobler and Albrecht each hit two freebies and it was 44-43 with 50 seconds left.

After a Wildcat turnover, Tobler made 1 of 2, followed by two more free throws after a Richfield miss to make it 47-43 with 15 seconds left. Emmit Hafen tried a deep 3-pointer with five seconds to play. It missed and the outlet pass went to Michael Moten, who iced the cake with a layup just before the final buzzer.

Tobler finished with 15 points, including 8 of 11 free throws, while O’donnell had 12 for the Panthers, who are 2-0 on the young season.

Pine View battles Uintah at 9 a.m. Saturday at the SVC.

Desert Hills 45, Uintah 23

Ever heard of a shutout in basketball? Well, this wasn’t a shutout, but it started out like one.

The smothering Desert Hills defense held the Utes without a point for nearly 10 minutes of basketball at the start of the game and the contest was never really close.

High school basketball, the Central Utah Preview at the Sevier Valley Center, Richfield, UT, Dec. 1, 2017 | Photo by Shelly Griffin, St. George News

D-Hills led 9-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Thunder weren’t exactly burning up the nets. But it hardly mattered as Uintah rarely got a shot off. In the first quarter, the Utes had seven turnovers and only seven shot attempts.

By halftime, Uintah had actually made three field goals, plus a handful of free throws and trailed just 19-9.

But Desert Hills finally did get warmed up in the second half. Led by Tucker Peterson and Trevin Lindstrom, the lead began to steadily grow. At the end of the third, it was 34-16, and the advantage reached 20 points early in the fourth quarter.

Peterson had 11 points and five boards for D-Hills, which is picked by the coaches and media to win Region 9. Lindstrom added eight points and three steals. Desert Hills held Uintah to just 9 for 32 shooting in the game (28.1 percent).

The Thunder, 1-0, finish their Central Utah Preview experience with a 1:30 p.m. game against Stansbury on Saturday.

South Sevier 52, Hurricane 45

Tigers star Jackson Last had 16 points despite constant double and triple teams, but the Rams had the last laugh and came away with the win.

South Sevier lit it up from outside, making 9 of 20 3-pointers. That outside shooting rallied the Rams in the second quarter. Hurricane had forged a 19-9 lead when Last sat down with his second foul early in the second. By halftime, SSHS had cut the deficit to just 24-23.

High school basketball, the Central Utah Preview at the Sevier Valley Center, Richfield, UT, Dec. 1, 2017 | Photo by Shelly Griffin, St. George News

A strong start in the third quarter gave the Rams a six-point lead and Hurricane could never quite recover. The Tigers did cut it to three a couple of times, but South Sevier buried free throws to seal the win.

“We understand a lot of teams are going to double- and triple-team Jackson, but that means someone else should be open,” Hurricane coach Todd Langston said. “This game was good for us. It helped us see what it’s going to be like this year. They’re going to throw a lot at us to try and stop Jackson.”

Xayden Jackman (12 points) and Adam Heyrend (11) also were in double figures for the Tigers, who were playing their first game vs. a team playing its third contest.

Caleb Barton had 15 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Rams, who are 3-0.

Hurricane plays Saturday night with a 6 p.m. tip off against hometown favorite Richfield at the SVC

Grantsville 60, Cedar 43

It was a rough afternoon for the Redmen, who had 27 turnovers and made just 12 of 27 shots in the game.

Dallin Peterson led Cedar with 14 points, most of those coming on his 9 for 10 free throw shooting. Dallin Grant, a freshman, added five points and 11 boards, but the Redmen trailed by nine in the first quarter and never led after the early going.

Grantsville made 24 of 47 shots, with Kevin Roberts notching 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting.

Ethan Boettcher had nine points on three made treys while Alec Jacoby had seven points.

Cedar, 0-1, plays Juab at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the SVC.

Highland 65, Snow Canyon 60

Joey Robertson had 19 points and Braden Baker chipped in 18, but the Warriors couldn’t overcome the Highland press in the five-point loss.

The Rams led by as many as eight points, but Snow Canyon kept it close behind eight 3-pointers, including one by big-man Robertson.

The Warriors fall to 1-2 after consecutive losses at the Corner Canyon Tournament of Champions. SC will play Lehi at noon Saturday in Draper before heading back to southern Utah.

Silverado (Nev.) 48, Canyon View 45

Brantzen Blackner scored 14 points, but it wasn’t quite enough against the Vegas-area school at the Legacy Invitational Friday night.

Blackner, a three-year starter for the Falcons, became the all-time leading scorer in Canyon View school history, surpassing former CV star Tyson McGrath.

Canyon View led 24-19 at the half, but a sour third quarter cost them, with Blackner riding the pine in foul trouble. He fouled out with more than six minutes left in the game.

The Falcons are 0-2 with a pair of close losses at the Legacy tourney. CV plays at 10:25 a.m. Saturday and would have a second game if the Falcons win.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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