Region 9 girls basketball recap: Cedar still on top, with Desert Hills 1 game behind

ST. GEORGE — Just past the start of the second half of the Region 9 girls basketball season, the Cedar City High School Reds are still undefeated in region play, thanks to recent wins over Hurricane and Dixie.

Right behind 9-0 Cedar in the standings is 8-1 Desert Hills, who won at home last Friday and on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Snow Canyon and Pine View are tied for third place with 6-3 region records. Here’s a recap of the past week’s action, going back to last Friday. Check out video highlights in the player above.

Friday’s games

Cedar 62, Hurricane 25

At Cedar City, the Lady Reds jumped out to an early double-digit lead against Hurricane and rolled to victory. Cedar outscored the Tigers 18-6 in the first quarter and led 37-12 at the half. During the third period, the Reds went on a 19-1 run to put the game well out of reach.

Mayci Torgerson led Cedar with 20 points, while Japrix Weaver added 14. Hurricane was paced by Kandalyn Hinton’s 10 points.

— written by Jeff Richards

Dixie 52, Canyon View 41

At Canyon View, the Dixie Flyers overcame a sluggish first half to earn a road win over the Falcons. The first half score was 16-13 in favor of Dixie, but the Flyers poured in 19 points in the third quarter, with Joslyn Bundy hitting a pair of 3-pointers. Dixie was able to maintain about a 10-point lead throughout the fourth period, eventually winning 52-41.

Bundy said after the game that she and her fellow players decided to “make the game fun” in the second half.

Dixie at Canyon View, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 24, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“Just go out hard,  get things running and drive, passing the ball and getting the ball to the open person a little bit more in the second half,” said Bundy, who finished with a team-high 16 points. “Our shots were falling.”

Added teammate Sina Schwalger, who finished with eight points: “I think we pushed the ball more and were a lot smarter about our passes and our shots. I also felt like we drove a lot more.”

Ryan Forsey, head coach of Dixie, said he knew Canyon View would be challenging to play at home.

“You’ve got to give credit to Canyon View and what they’re able to do,” Forsey said. “I know that they are not to where they want to be in their record, but you know, they bring it every night, so we respect them and give them their credit.”

Forsey added that in the second half, he was pleased with his team “getting back to how we play.”

“That’s really all we said at halftime, was just that we had to find the fun.”

Canyon View was led by Ashlyn Banks’ 16 points, while Harlee Nicoll added 14.

— written by Jeff Richards

Snow Canyon 59, Crimson Cliffs 22

The Crimson Cliffs Mustangs hosted the Snow Canyon Warriors and lost 59-22. The Warriors were up by 40 at halftime and kept going in the second half to get the road victory.

Olivia Harris led the Warriors with 19 points, and Tylei Jensen chipped in 16 points. For the Mustangs, Brooklyn Winget had seven points and seven rebounds.

Desert Hills 54, Pine View 52

Pine View at Desert Hills, St. George, Utah, Jan. 24, 2020 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News

The first meeting between these two teams, the game went into double overtime, with Desert Hills pulling out the win. For their second meeting, the game went down to the wire as well with Desert Hills once again coming away with the victory 54-52.

Read more about the game here.

Wednesday’s games

Cedar 70, Dixie 38

The Reds traveled south to take on Dixie and controlled the entire game against the Flyers, eventually winning 70-38.

Japrix Weaver led all scorers with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Logann Laws and Mayci Torgerson had 12 points a piece. For Dixie, Joslyn Bundy had 11 points while Enid Vaifanua and Sina Schwalger added eight points each.

Snow Canyon 67, Canyon View 45

The Falcons took on the Warriors on the road Wednesday night. Canyon View started the game off strong against one of the top teams in the region, but they were unable to hold on in the second quarter as Snow Canyon opened up a 20-point lead going into halftime.

Canyon View at Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah, Jan. 29, 2020 | Photo by Ryne Williams, St. George News / Cedar City News

The second half was close in scoring differential, but the Falcons dug themselves too big of a hole in the first half. Snow Canyon got the win 67-45.

Ashlyn Banks had 18 points for Canyon View while Harlee Nicoll had 14 points. For Snow Canyon, four players scored in double figures, and Olivia Harris had 17 points while Tylei Jensen had 16 points.

Desert Hills 56, Hurricane 36

After beating the Tigers by just six points in their last meeting, Desert Hills came out and got the 20-point victory on Wednesday. The Tigers were only down seven points at the half, but the Thunder extended the lead in the second half to get the win.

“We tried to change things up tonight, but too many turnovers kept us from keeping it close with Desert Hills,” Tigers head coach Shelly Thomas said in a text to St. George News. “We were only down by 7 at halftime but couldn’t score in the third and we let it get away from us.”

Brooke Thomas led all scorers with 17 points, nine of which were 3-pointers, while Kandalyn Hinton had six points and Addy Lichfield had five points. For the Thunder, Sa’de Turlington and Sydney Peisley both had 13 points, with Kami Bliss right behind at 12 points.

Pine View 74, Crimson Cliffs 27

Pine View jumped out to a 23-point lead at halftime and cruised to a 47-point win over Crimson Cliffs on Wednesday.

Averi Papa had a game high 23 points, while Sophie Jensen had 13 points in the winning effort. Crimson Cliffs’ Brooklyn Winget had 12 points on the night as well.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

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

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