Cedar boys beat Canyon View in rivalry game that included presentation of $5,000 to 3 cancer survivors

Written by Jeff Richards
January 16, 2020

CEDAR CITY — The boys basketball teams of cross-town rivals Cedar and Canyon View battled it out on Canyon View’s home court Tuesday night, with the Cedar Reds winning 84-65 after leading wire to wire in front of a boisterous, standing room only crowd.

Cedar set the tone early, using its size advantage to build an 8-2 lead three minutes in.

“We knew we had an advantage in the post so I told them, ‘Hey, we’ve got to go to the post early,’” Cedar head coach Mark Esplin said afterward. “I thought the first four minutes of this game was going to determine some things, and it did.”

By halftime, the Reds had built an 18-point lead, although Landon Barney’s breakaway dunk at the buzzer was waved off by officials. Cedar led 42-24 at the break.

Barney, who finished with 15 points, ended up being one of four Cedar players to score in double figures. Luke Armstrong led the team with 18 points, while center Dallin Grant added 16, including three dunks. Guard Treyton Tebbs added 11 before leaving the game with a sprained ankle after getting fouled during a layup attempt late in the fourth quarter.

Canyon View guard Trevor Farrow led all scorers with 24 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter, when the Falcons outscored the Reds 27-18 down the stretch.

“I don’t feel like we put a full 32 minutes together,” Esplin said. “We played well in the first half, three quarters, but are still having problems finishing. I’ve got to hand it to Canyon View. Coach Potter knows (his team’s) a little undersized, but (his players) work really hard. And Trevor Farrow’s a nice player, maybe the best guard in the region.”

Cedar, which improved to 9-4 overall with the victory including 3-2 in Region 9 play, next plays Thursday night at Crimson Cliffs. However, Cedar will be without the services of guard Zab Santana, who was ejected from Tuesday night’s game after picking up two technical fouls in the fourth quarter shortly after the play during which Tebbs was injured.

Cedar at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 14, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“I’m a little disappointed that we lost a little bit of our composure and we’re going to be down a player on Thursday,” Esplin said. “Zab’s a kid that can rebound and score. He’s a high energy kid. He’s a good kid. He just lost his cool.”

“It’s a rivalry game, which causes a lot of emotions,” Esplin added.

Arguably the main highlight of the evening was the presentation of three $5,000 checks at halftime to local cancer survivors Laycee Johnson, Stephanie Hulet and Ian Keyes. The donations represented the bulk of the $17,000 raised during last month’s Steve Hodson Cancer Classic tournament. Surrounded by family members, friends, supporters and players and coaches from both Cedar and Canyon View high schools, the three beneficiaries received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Last year, Canyon View had defeated Cedar in both of their regular season meetings. The year before that, they split the season series, with the road team winning both contests.

Canyon View, which fell to 0-5 in region play with the loss, will get another chance at their rivals when the two teams play next on Feb. 6 at Cedar High. The Falcons next play at Pine View at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Wednesday night, on the same floor at Canyon View exactly 24 hours after the boys basketball game, the same two schools’ girls basketball teams met up for their first rivalry game of the season, with the Cedar Lady Reds defeating Canyon View 70-29. Check back on St. George News for the weekly Region 9 recap at the end of the week for coverage of that game and others taking place this week.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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